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THE 



•/ «•»' 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN 



INSTRUCTED 



IN THE 



SACRAMENTS, SACRIFICE, CEREMONIES, 



AND 



OBSERVANCES OF THE CHURCH, 



BY WAY OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWEBS. 



CJ^J^.aJJioV\JJ\} ^ t^t 



BY THE MOST RET. DR. CHALLONEB. 



NEW YORK : 

D. & J. SADLIER & CO. M WILLIAM STREET. 

Boston : 128 Federal Street, 
montrciix. : cor. of notre dame and st. francis xatikk 8t9. 

1853. 





SIFT 



:3%ni''^ 



ISTdrr OF - ' y» r- 

SJa** t»VIIIG Iff L^D 



APPROBATION. 

The " Catholic Christian Instructed" will be 
found to add to the merits, as well as to the num- 
ber, of the works stereotyped by the Cincinnati 
Society for the diffusion of Religious Knowledge. 
I felicitate the faithful of this diocese on its publi- 
cation, and earnestly recommend it to tliem and to 
all enquirers for the truth. ►fi J. B. Bp. Cin. 



V 



/ 3^^ 



X^ 



PREFACE. 



The design of the following sheets being to 
explain the Doctrine and Ceremonies of Catholic 
Church, and to vindicate the same from the misre- 
presentations of our adversaries, the Reader, whe- 
ther Catholic or Protestant, may reasonably expect 
that I should not send them abroad into the world 
without taking some notice of a late performance 
of Dr. Conyers Middleton, entitled, " A letter from 
Rome, showing an exact conformity between Po- 
pery and Paganism; or the Religion of the present 
Romans derived from that of their heathen Ances- 
tors." This being a work directly levelled against 
some part of the ceremonies of the Church, and 
having been received with great applause by many 
in England, so as to have passed through three 
editions in the space of a few years ; it is to com- 
ply with so reasonable an expectation that I have 
determined to employ my Preface in making some 
animadversions upon this Letter of the Doctor; to 
which, though consisting of seventy pages in quar- 
to, I hope, with the help of God, in one short sheet 
to give a full and satisfactory answer. 

The chief particulars which the Doctor objects 
against in the religion of modern Rome, and upon 
which he grounds the parallel which he pretends 
to make between Popery and Paganism, are these: 
first, the use of incense and perfume in Churches: 
secondly, the use of holy water: thirdly, the burn- 



4 PREf-ACE. 

ing of lamps and candles: fourthly, offerings or 
votive gifts: fifthly, images which he jumbles to- 
gether with the veneration of the saints: sixthly, 
chapels on the way-side for the devotion of tra- 
vellers, crosses and sometimes chapels upon hills: 
seventhly, processions: eighthly, miracles, with 
which, it seems, he is very much offended v/here- 
ever he meets them, and therefore he dwells longer 
upon that subject than any other. All these ihmgs 
he pretends to discover in the religion of the old 
Pagans; and therefore imagines he has a right to 
conclude, that the modern Komans have derived 
their whole religion from them. 

Before I proceed to examine these particulars, 
and to answer the Doctor's objections against ihem, 
I cannot but take notice of a piece of foul play in 
him, unworthy of thai candour of which he makes 
profession, and which he acknowledges he met 
with in all those whom he had the honour to con- 
verse with at Eome, which is, that having under- 
taken in his title-page to show an exact confuiniity 
between the religion of the present Ron.ans and 
that of their Pagan ancestors, and in the body of 
his book having more than once given the pre- 
ference to the latter, yet in drawing his paiallel 
he has been so disingenuous as to dissenjble on the 
one side, all the grosser superstitions of the Pr.gans, 
and for the most part only to take notice of certain 
observances, which were no otherwise criminal 
than in being applied to the worship of false gods; 
and. on the other side he has quite passed c\er in 
silence the most substantial parts of the religion of 
the present Romans, and only cavilled ai some 
ceremonies or matters of less importance. For 
can the Doctor really think, that the belief of the 
scripture, and of the creeds, is no part of the rcli- 



PREFACE. 5 

gion of Rome? Is not the one, true and living 
God worshiped there in three Persons, the Father, 
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost? Do not the 
people universally believe in Jesus Christ? Is not 
the eucharistic sacrifice offered in all their church- 
es, in memory of his death and passion*? Is not 
the word of God preached amongst them; the di- 
vine Office, consisting of psalms, scripture-lessons, 
&c. daily sung; the sacraments frequented, &c.? 
And which of all these things has been derived to 
the modern Romans from their heathen ancestors? 
But it was not for the Doctor's purpose to take any 
notice of any these things, not so much as even of 
the articles of the profession of faith, published by 
Pope Pius IV. which he very well knows to be the 
standard of what he calls Popery, and yet has not 
so much as offered to show any conformity in any 
of them (excepting the article of saints and their 
images, which he grossly misrepresents) with the 
doctrine or practice of the Pagans. To such shifts 
as these, are persons unhappily driven, who are 
resolved to maintain a bad cause. 

But let us see what these gross superstitions are, 
upon which the Doctor grounds his charges against 
the modern Romans, and would have his readers 
believe they are no better than Pagans. In the 
first place, he instances the use of incense in 
churches; and we may presume he is too well 
acquainted with the rules of rhetoric not to rank 
in the front some of those which he esteems the 
strongest arguments: so that he looks upon this as 
one of the most notorious instances of heathenish 
superstition. But has he any thing to urge against 
it from scripture, the only rule of a Protestant's 
faith? Not one single word. On the contrary, if 
he had been as well read in the scriptures, as he 

1* 



6 PREFAC:^ 

would seem to be in the heathen poets, he would 
have found the use of incense in the temple. of God, 
and that by God's own ordinance,* in records of a 
far more ancient date than any he can produce for 
the use of it among the heathens; who in this, as 
in many /Other things, did but mimic the sacred 
ceremonies prescribed in the law of God. And 
certainly a person that has been but moderately 
versed in the sacred writings, will be surprised 
to find the use of incense ranked by the Doctor 
amongst heathenish rites, since it is so frequently 
mentioned with honour in God's holy word; as 
when the psalmist desires that his prayer may 
ascend as incense in the sight of God, Ps. cxli. 2. 
as when the prophet Mai achy (as his words are 
rendered in the Protestant Bible) foretells, chap. i. 
11. that in the Church of Christ, incense shall be 
offered in every place to God's holy name; as when 
St. John in the Revelation, chap. v. 8. and chap. viii. 
4. 6:,c, represents to us odours and incense burn- 
ing before God in the heavenly Jerusalem. For, 
allowing these texts to be figurative, yet we are 
not to suppose that the sacred pen-men would de- 
scribe to^ us the service either of the militant or 
triumphant Church, by figures borrowed irom 
heathenish superstition. As for what the Doctor 
has' alleged against the use of incense out of the 
acts of the martyrs, who chose rather to die than 
to offer incense to false gods, and out of the law of 
Theodosius, which confiscates the places in which 
the Pagans had oflered incense to their deities, he 
could not but know, that all this was utterly foreign 
to his purpose: but if he had a mind to be informed 
of the antiquity of the ceremonial use of incense 

n * See Exod. xxx. 7, 8. xl. 27. Levit. xvi. 12, &c. 



"Preface. 7 

amongst the Christians, he might have found it in 
the most ancient liturgies, and even in the very 
canons attributed to the Apostles, can. 3. 

The next thing the Doctor objects against as 
heathenish, is the use of holy water, which he 
pretends to derive from the heathens, because he 
finds in his poets that the Pagans of old in entering 
into their temples, used to be sprinkled with water; 
and he thinks he has discovered in some scraps of 
old Greek verses, that there was salt mingled with 
this water; and which is still a more wonderful 
discovery, in poring upon old medals, he imagines 
he has found out something not unlike a sprinkling- 
brush amongst the things used by the Pagan priests. 
But what a pity it is, that amongst all these great 
discoveries, he has not met with any account of the 
heathens ever making use of water sanctified by 
the word of God and prayer, in the name, and by 
the virtue of Jesus Christ: for this is what we call 
holy water, and this the Pagans never used. As 
for the rest, we find mention of holy water, that is, 
water sanctified for religious uses, in the most sa- 
cred records of the divine law, long before the 
heathens abused it to their superstition: see Numb. 
xix. And the Doctor might with full as good a 
grace have proved the sacrament of baptism to be 
a heathenish practice, from the Pagans' use of water 
in their temples, as have alleged it against holy 
water; which is with us a memorial of our bap- 
tism, as that in the old law was a figure of it. As 
for the yearly festival, which the Doctor says is 
celebrated with great solemnity in the month of 
January, and is called the Benediction of Horses, I 
never yet met with it in the Roman Calendar; and 
though 1 have spent the greatest part of my life 
abroad, never saw nor heard of any such ceremony 



8 PREFACE. 

as that which he pretends is practised upon thai 
day by the monks of St. Anthony, near St. Mary 
Mujor, in Rome. But however this be, we may 
hope there is nothing heathenish in this ceremony, 
since the Doctor, who is so good a Christian, pro- 
cured, though it was, as he says at the expense of 
eighteen-pence, his own horses to be blessed by 
these good monks, p. 20. 

I The third thing which the Doctor quarrels with, 
as derived from the heathens, is the burning of 
lamps before the altars, and setting up wax candles 
to burn in the time of divine service. This, he 
says, was first introduced by the Egyptians: for 
which he quotes in the margin, Clement of Alex- 
andria, Stromat, 1. I.e. 16. But this author sava 
no such thing, and the true original of setting up 
lights or burning lamps in temples, is to be found 
in the law of God, Exod. xxv. xxxvii. and xl. 
And as the devil affected to have his temples, 
altars, priests, sacrifices and all other things which 
were used, in the worship of the true Gud, so no 
wonder that he procured also to have lamps set up 
in liis temples in imitation of those, which by the 
the law of God were appointed to burn before the 
sanctuary. The Doctor therefore is very much 
mistaken, when he too hastily concludes that every 
ceremony used by the heathens, in the worship of 
their false gods, is consequently heathenish, and as 
such ought to be banished from the worship of the 
true God; since the greatest part of these ceremo- 
nies were indeed borrowed by the heathens from 
the worship of the true God. 

Next to the lamps or wax-lights burning before 
the altars, he falls upon the number of offerings 
or votive gifts hung up, in testimony of cures or 
deliverances, around the altars, or the shrines of 



PREFACE. 9 

the saints; all which he takes for downright hea- 
thenism, because he finds the footsteps of the like 
offerings hung up in the temples of the heatliens. 
But here let him take notice, once for all, that 
practices in themselves innocent are not rendered 
unlawful, by having been abused by the heathens 
to their superstitions; that all that was heathenism 
in this case was the referring and dedicating these 
things to the honour of their false deities; and that 
it cannot be disagreeable to the true and living 
God, that such as believe they have received fa- 
vours from him, by the prayers of his saints, 
should make a public acknowledgment of it. 

The Doctor could n.ot but be sensible, that the 
things which he has hitherto objected against had no- 
thing heathenish in their nature, and that not one 
of them was ever condemned or prohibited by the 
law of God: and therefore, since truth would furnish 
him w^ith no arms in order to make out his charge 
of idolatry and heathenish superstition, in which 
he pretends that modern Rome equals or exceeds 
her Pagan ancestors, he is forced to call in to 
his assistance misrepresentation and slander. For 
what is it else but the grossest misrepresentation 
and downright slander to charge the Church of 
Rome, as he does, p. 29. of the finishivg act and last 
scene of genuine idolatry^ in crowds of bigot votaries, 
prostrating themselves before some image of wood or 
stone, and paying divine honours to an idol of their 
own erecting? The Doctor should have remem- 
bered here what he promised in his preface, viz. 
to produce, for what he should charge upon us^ 
such vouchers as we ourselves would allow to be 
authentic. Instead of which we are, it seems, 
upon his bare word, without either proof or wit- 
ness, to believe a charge which in itself is highly 



10 PREFACE. 

improbable, and which every one, that is acquaint- 
ed with the doctrine and practice of the Catholic 
Church, knows to be absolutely false. The second 
Council of Nice, to which the Council of Trent 
refers in the decree concerning images, declares 
that divine honour, Latria, is not to be given them, 
Acts vii; and the Council of Trent, Sess. 25. de- 
clares, that we are not to believe there is any 
divinity or virtue in them, for which they are to 
be worshiped ; that we are not to pray to them, nor 
put our trust in them. And every child among us 
knows, that if we keep with respect the images or 
pictures of Christ and his saints, it is not to make 
them our gods, as the heathens did their idols, nor 
to give them the honour that belongs to God; but 
by the honour we show to the memorials, to express 
our esteem, love and veneration for the persons 
represented by them, and to use them as helps to 
raise our thoughts and affections to heavenly things. 
But, to make out the easier this charge of idol- 
atry against us, the Doctor has made an important 
discovery, which he fathers upon St. Jerome, 
though indeed it is a brat of his own; which is, 
that all images of the dead are idols, and conse- 
quently are liable to all those censures which in 
the scripture, in the fathers, and in the laws of 
Christian emperors, arc pronounced against idols. 
An important discovery indeed! by which it ap- 
pears, that, after all the pretences of his own 
church to a thorough reformation, she has not yet 
got rid of idols, but has them everywhere standing, 
and new ones daily erected, in spite of the law of 
God; and that not only in every private house, 
inhabited by her children (scarce one of which is 
found without some image or picture of the dead) 
but also in her public places, and in her very 



PREFACE. 11 

churches, out of which though she has generally 
removed the images of Christ, (which it is hoped 
the Doctor will not look upon to be idols, if he 
believes the resurrection of his Redeemer) yet she 
has brought in in their stead the images of Moses 
and Aaron, who are certainly dead ; and, what is 
worse still, has introduced dead lions and unicorns 
into the sanctuary, in place of the cross of Christ; 
though this also of late has been erected upon the 
top of the chief church of the kingdom, surrounded 
with many other of the Doctor's idols to the great 
offence of the Puritans, who are the only people 
that will thank the Doctor for the pains he has 
been at to furnish them with arms against the 
established church. Though it is to be feared, if 
they take for good the Doctor's definition of an 
idol, their zeal against idolatry may raise some 
scruple in them, with relation to the images of 
kings deceased, which they carry in their pockets, 
or hoard up in their bags, and which, it is thought, 
they worship more than either their living king or 
any deity whatsoever. 

What then is the real difference between idols 
(Lat. Simulachra) and those images or pictures 
which we have in our churches? It is this, that 
idols, according to the ecclesiastical use of the 
word, adopted by the holy fathers and all antiquity, 
are only such images as are set up for gods, and 
honoured as such; or in which some divinity or 
power is believed to reside by their worshipers, 
who accordingly offer prayers and sacrifice to 
them, and put their trust in them. Such were the 
idols of the Gentiles, and such were those images 
of the dead, of which St. Jerome speaks (in cap. 
37. Isaioe) viz. the gods of those nations which 
Senacherib and his predecessors the Assyrian kings 



12 PREFACE. 

had destroyed; which, having been no better than 
the images of men doubly dead, were by Scnache- 
rib and his servants foolishly and impiously com- 
pared to the true and living God. So that it is 
true enough that these idols were images of the 
dead, which is all that St. Jerome, asserts;^ but it 
is not true, that all images of the dead are idols, 
which is what Dr. Middleton would infer. I shall 
only add, with relation to St. Jerome, that he ex- 
pressly affirms, that the saints are not to be called 
dead, but living; and therefore their images are out 
of the question. E contra Vigilant, Sancti non 
appellantur mortui sed viventes, 

"But our notion of the idolatry of modern Rome 
(says the Doctor, p. 31.) will be much heightened 
still and confirmed, as oft as we follow them into 
those temples, and to those very altars which were 
built originally and dedicated by their heathen 
ancestors the old Eomans to the honour of their 
Pagan deities; v/here we shall hardly see any other 
alteration than the shrine of some old hero filled 
now by the meaner statue of some modern saint." 
There is another trifling difference, which he does 
not think worth while to take notice of; which is, 
that all these temples are now dedicated to the 
service of the true and living God; that the word 
of God is there preached, the divine praises sung, 
and the great eucharistic sacrifice, the memorial 
of the passion of Jesus Christ, daily celebrated; 
whereas before they were dedicated to the worship 
of the devil. 

But, besides this the Doctor cannot be ignorant, 
that the modern Roman altars, are not the same as 

* Quae idola intelligimus imagines mortuorum. In cap 
37. Isaiae. 



PREFACE. 18 

those the heathens made use of for their sacrifices; 
that the image of Christ crucified is placed upon 
all our altars not to be worshiped as a God, like 
those idols, which he calls the shrines of his old 
heroes, but as a memorial of Christ's passion; that 
the Churches, though called by the names of the 
saints whose relics are there reposited, or memory 
celebrated, are not erected to the saints, much less 
to their images, but to the God of the saints; that 
our devotion to the saints goes no farther than the 
desiring their prayers; and that their pictures or 
images are no more with us than their memorials, 
which we respect for their sakes. 

But the Doctor, it seems, is offended that the 
Pantheon and other temples of the Pagans have 
been changed into Churches of the blessed Virgin 
and the saints; and thinks that the old possessors 
(the heathen deities) had a better title to them 
than the Mother of Christ or his martyrs; and 
declares, that he should be much more inclined to 
pay his devotion to a Romulus or Antonine, than 
to (the illustrious martyrs) Laurence or Damian, 
p. 33, 34. I suppose, by the same rule, he must 
take it very ill to find so many Popish Churches, 
nigher home, changed into Protestant temples, 
without so much as taking the pains to new chris- 
ten them: so that without going to Rome we may 
find a Laurence, an Albian, and a great number of 
other Romish saints in the very heart of London. 
For since he openly declares, that the Pagan dei- 
ties had a juster title to religious veneration than 
any of these saints, consequently a Church of St. 
Laurence must needs give more offence than a 
temple of Bacchus. 

But some may possibly apprehend, from the way 
that the Doctor speaks of the martyrs of ChrisJ^ 



14 PREFACE. 

that he is no greater friend to Christianity in 
general than he is to Popery: for though some 
ancient heretics have objected of old to the Catholic 
Church, as he now does, that we had but changed 
our idols in worshiping the saints instead of the 
Pagan deities (which was the objection of Vigilan- 
tius and of Faustus the Manichsean, as we learn 
from the writings of St. Jerome against Vigilan- 
tius, and of St. Augustine against Faustus, I. 20. c. 
21.) yet no one, that pretended to the name of 
Christian, ever ventured to prefer the Pagan dei- 
ties before the martyrs of Christ. This was an 
extravagance that none but Julian the apostate was 
^capable of, from whom the Doctor has copied it. 
See St. Cyril of Alexandria. 1. 6. contra Julianum. 
. As to what he tells us upon hear-say, that some 
^f the images of the saints were originally statues 
^of the Pagan deities, and others, designed by the 
sculptors or painters for the representation of their 
own mistresses; till he brings some better author- 
ity for it, than an i/ is said, we shall not think it 
worth while to take any notice of it. For if, in 
things that he positively asserts, he makes no 
•scruple of advancing notorious untruths, as when 
■he tells us, p, 33, that many of the Eomish saints 
were never heard of but in our legends; and that 
many more have no other merit but that of raising 
rebellions in defence of their idols, and throwing 
whole kingdoms into convulsions for the sake of 
some gainful imposture: if, I say, in such things as 
these, which he affirms to be certain, he advances 
such falsehoods, who will venture to believe what 
he tells only. upon hear-say? 

His pretending to derive the name of St. Orestes 
from Mount Soracte is ridiculous beyond measure: 
and his suspecting that some who are honoured as 



i 



PREFACE. 15 

martyrs, were originally no other than the hea- 
then deities, by reason of some affinity which he 
discovers in their names, is a groundless suspicion, 
as any one will be convinced, that is not entirely a 
stranger to ancient Church History; in which we 
find, by innumerable instances, that as a great 
part of the primitive saints and martyrs had been 
converts from paganism, so a great many of their 
names had no small affinity witb those of the hea- 
thenish deities; and sometimes were the very same, 
as in the New Testament itself we find a Diony- 
sius. Acts xvii. 34. which is the Greek name of 
Bacchus, and a Hermes, Eom. xvi. 14. which is 
the Greek name of Mercury. 

As to what he writes of Julia Evodia, no such 
saint was ever honoured in our Church, much less 
any saint Viar, so that those pretty stories, like 
the inscriptions which he alleges, which are the 
works of private persons without any authority, 
are not worth our notice, no more than Usher's 
conjecture concerning St. Amphibalus, or Mabil- 
lon's concerning St. Veronica: for allowing them 
both to be as well grounded as the Doctor can 
desire, it will only follow that there has been a 
mistake in the name of the ecclesiastic harboured 
by St. Alban, and that of the pious woman, on 
whose handerchief our Saviour imprinted the im- 
age of his face. But after all, neither the one nor 
the other was ever canonized by the Church, nor 
are their names found in the Roman martyrology. 

I cannot comprehend why the Doctor, p. 44. 
should bring in the adoration of the host, which 
he calls the principal part of worship, and the dis- 
tinguishing article of faith in the creed of modern 
Rome; of which he confesses he cannot find the 
least resemblance or similitude in any part of the 



W PREFACE. 

Pagan worship; unless it were to disprove thai 
exact conformity, which in his title page he had 
promised to prove betwixt Popery and Paganism; 
or rather to make way for alleging against us the 
authority of Tully, which he prefers before that 
of the Apostles and Evangelists, of the absurdity 
of believing that to be God which we receive under 
the sacramental veils: an absurdity, which the 
Doctor could have had no room to» have objected to 
us, had he not forgotten his own catechism, which 
informed him, that the body and blood of Christ 
are verily and indeed taken and received by the 
faithful in the Lord's Supper. For if the faithful 
in this system may not be said to feed upon their 
God, neither can they in the system of Transub- 
8tantiation. 

But now the Doctor is pleased to leave the 
Churches, and make an excursion into the country, 
the whole face of which he is pleased to tell us, p. 
44. has the visible characters of Paganism upon 
it; because of the little Chapels which frequently 
occur upon the way, where travellers often kneel 
down to say a prayer, and because of the many 
crosses everywhere erected. And who will dare 
presume after this to open his mouth in favour of 
ropery, when he understands that the Doctor has 
demonstrated, by what he has discovered in his 
travels, that all Papists are Pagans; because their 
very travellers are so superstitious as sonetimes 
to kneel down and say a prayer before a country 
Chapel, where they find some memorial of Christ's 
passion; and because they have every where erect- 
ed that Anti-christian standard the cross of Clnistt 
But what is still more heathenish in the Doctor's 
rjes, is that these little oratories or crosses are 
lometimes under trees, and sometimes upon \he top 



PREFACE. 17 

of hills, which he ingeniously interprets to be the 
high places condemned in the Old Testament. But 
the truth is, and all Papists are convinced of it, 
what a place is neither better nor worse for divine 
worship, because it is on a high place or low; near 
trees or at a distance from them: and what was 
condemned of*old in the high places mentioned in 
the scripture, was not their being upon hills, for 
God is no less the God of the mountains than of 
the vallies; and his temple in Jerusalem was built 
upon a hill, viz. on Mount Moriah, 2 Chron. iii. 1. 
but they were condemned because the worship 
there exhibited was either heathenish or schisma- 
tical, that it was either given to strange gods, or 
if to the God of Israel, was given contrary to his 
appointment, who had forbidden sacrifice to be 
offered in any other places but in his temple at 
Jerusalem: see Deut. xii. 5, 11, 13, 14. 

From the country the Doctor returns again to 
the towns, and there quarrels with the images 
and altars which he pretends to meet with every 
where, and which he takes to be visible marks of 
Paganism: but were the old Pagans to come to life 
again, and to understand whose images these are, 
viz. of Jesus Christ, of his blessed Mother, of his 
Apostles and martyrs, by whose preaching, labours 
and blood paganish superstition was banished out 
of the world, and who upon that account are now 
honoured, they would be far from being of the 
Doctor's mind, and would look upon these images 
as evident proofs of these people being Christians, 
who show so much regard to Christ and his 
saints. 

But in the towns the Doctor is also offended with 
orocessions, which, as he is pleased to say, are 

2* 



18 PREFACE. 

seen on every festival of the Virgin, or other 
Romish saint, which he supposes to be the ihusiri 
ai tomtai kai choreiai, sacrifices, pomps and dances, 
mentioned by Plutarch in Numa, p. IG. and con- 
cludes that these processions must needs be hea- 
thenish, the more because he finds in Apuleius an 
account of som.ething like a procession performed^' 
by the heathens in honour of their gods. But the 
Doctor might have found an account of a religious 
procession in an author much more ancient than 
Apuleius, amongst the worshipers of the true God, 
if he would have consulted 2 Sam. vi. I fear the 
Doctor has no great opinion of this kind of monu- 
ments of antiquity; the less, because he finds 
therein frequent mention of miracles, which are 
things he never can digest, wherever he meets 
them. 

But the Pagans, it seems, pretended to miracles, 
and therefore the Romanish religion which pre- 
tends to miracles must needs be Paganish. It is a 
pity the Doctor did not here speak out in favour 
of his friends the free-thinkers, and argue thus, 
the Pagans pretended to build their religion upon 
nf>iracles.; therefore the Jewish religion of old, and 
the Christian now, both which appeal to miracles, 
as their first and chief foundation, are no better 
grounded than Paganism. But even in the instan- 
ces which the Doctor alleges (and we may be sure 
he has picked out suoh as he thought most for his 
purpose) it is easy to take notice that the miracles 
pretended to by the Pagans had no probable grounds 
to support them, no number of witnesses to attest 
them, no contemporary writers to vouch for them, 
but, as in the case of the victory supposed to have 
been gained over the Latins by the assistance of 



PREFACE. 19 

Castor and Pollux, all was built upon a popular 
opinion, or the testimony of one or two that pre- 
tended to have seen those deities; which was greed- 
ily swallowed by the general and the senate as a 
token of the divine favour, who thereupon erected 
Ji temple to thjem. Whereas, in the case which 
^the Doctor supposes to be parallel to this, of the 
victories gained against the infidels in tlfe holy 
wars, by the assistance of the martyrs, these saints, 
as appears by what he has in the margin, were 
seen bv both the Christian and infidel armv: and 
the history of it was written, as we learn from the 
Doctor himself, by an eye-witness. 

But whether the miracles which he has pitche(^ 
upon for the subject of his ridicule be true or false, 
there is nothing at least heathenish in them, and 
consequently nothing that can be of any service to 
him to make out the exact conformity, which he 
pretends to demonstrate, between Popery and Pa- 
ganism. In the mean time, the Doctor is not igno- 
rant, that it is not upon such things, as most of 
those are which he alleges, that we lay any stress, 
neither have we any need to appeal to them; for 
God has been pleased in every age to work far 
more evident miracles in his Church, by the minis- 
try of his saints; in raising the dead to life, in cu- 
ring the blind and the lame, in casting out devils, in 
healing in a moment inveterate diseases, and the 
like stupendous works of his power, attested by 
the most authentic monuments, and very frequent- 
ly (as may be seen in the acts of the canonizations 
of the saints) by the depositions of innumerable 
eye-witnesses, examined upon oath; and by the pub- 
lic notoriety of the facts; which kind of miracles, 
so authentically attested, will be to all ages a 



20 PREFACE. 

standing evidence, that the Church, in whose com- 
munion they have all been wrought, is not that 
idolatrous Pagan Church which the Doctor pre- 
tends, but the true Spouse of Christ, which alone 
has inherited in all ages that promise which the 
Lord made at his departure, St. John xiv. 12, 13. 
'Veril}^, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth 
in me, the works that I do shall he do also, and 
greater works than these shall he do, because I go 
unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in 
my name that will I do.' 

And here I might take my leave of the Doctor, 
for what he adds, p. i^B, &c. to derive the Church 
sanctuaries from the asylum opened by Romulus 
to receive fugitives, the authority of the Pope from 
the Pagan Pontiff, and the religious orders from 
the colleges of the Augurs, Falii, &c. is so very 
weak, that it would be trifling away my time to 
take any notice of it. But, before we part, I must 
put the Doctor and his friends in mind that some 
people will naturally infer, from what he imagines 
he has so fully proved, viz. that Popery and Pa- 
ganism stand upon the same bottom, and that one 
is no better than the other; they will infer, I say, 
that the orders which his Church pretends to have 
by succession from the Church of Eome are no 
more valid than if they proceeded from an Indian 
Brahman or a Mahometan Dervise. (Chandler's 
Sermons, p. 36.) And by the self-same way of 
arguing, by which he pretends to demonstrate an 
exact conformity between the religion of the pre- 
sent Romans and that of their heathen ancestors 
these same gentlemen will, with a much fairei 
show of probability, prove an exact conformity 
between the religion by law established and Po- 



PREFACE. 21 

pr,ry. The consequence of which will be, if the 
Doctor be not mistaken in his parallel, that Eng- 
lish Protestancy is no better than heathenish 
idolatry. 

But that I may not seem to say this without rea- 
son, let us suppose that Chandler, or some other 
of the same kidney, should take into his head to 
charge the Church by law established with Popery: 
and to this purpose should heap together all that 
he could of ceremonies, observances, 6zc. which 
Protestants have retained from the old religion, 
and in . one of his learned declamations deliver 
himself as follows to his dissenting auditory: 

"Beware, my dearly beloved, of these people 
that call themselves the Church of England: for 
their religion is wholly derived from that of their 
Romish ancestors, and has an exact conformity or 
uniformity rather with Popery, and consequently 
with Paganism, from which, as Dr. Middleton has 
lately demonstrated, the Papists have borrowed 
their v;hole religion. Now mark ye, my beloved, 
how plainly 1 shall prove that these people who 
call themselves Protestants have taken their whole 
religion from the Papists. 

" First, their Churches are the very same which 
were originally built by their Popish ancestors, 
and are still dedicated to the same Popish saints, 
as formerly they were; though one of their own 
divines plainly tells them, they had better have 
dedicated them to Bacchus or Venus. Now of all 
the honours that the Papists have ever given to 
their saints, this of dedicating temples to them was 
Xiertainly the greatest, far greater than that of 
kissing their relics or desiring their prayers, and 
consequently if the Church of Rome were ever 



22 PREFACE. 

guilty of idolatry in relation to the saints, her 
daughter the Church of England stands guilty of 
the same, which has ten Churches dedicated to 
Mary for one dedicated to Christ. 

^'Secondly, in their Churches they have altars 
too like the Papists; and what should altars do 
there, if they did not offer sacrifice like the Pa- 
pists? To these altars they cringe and bow; whicl^ 
is giving religious honour, which God has appro- 
priated to himself, to insensible creatures, and there- 
fore is no better than downright idolatry. In many 
places they have over these altars images and pic- 
tures, like the Papists, in spite of the second Com- 
mandment. And though they are pleased to tell 
us that they worship them not, yet what can we 
think when we see them perpetually bowing down 
to that which indeed is no more than an image, 
viz. the name of Jesus, which of all images of 
Christ has the least of solid substance in it, as be- 
ing only formed in the air by the empty sound of 
the two syllables of his name. But what respect 
they have for images we may judge by that which 
they show to the cross, which they have lately 
erected in the highest place of the capital city of 
the kingdom; and so much are they bewitched 
with the notion of this standard of Popery, that 
they look upon none rightly baptized without be- 
ing signed with the sign of the cross. 

"Thirdly, their liturgy or common prayer is 
wholly Popish, and at the best but a bungling imi- 
tation of the Romish Mass: from this they have 
borrowed their collects, lessons, &c. and a great 
part of what they call their communion service. 
Their orders of bishops, priests and deacons, both 
as to the name and thing, were taken from Rome; 



PREFACE. 23 

and from thence they all pretend to derive their 
succession. Their way of ordaining ministers re- 
sembles that of the Papists; and is equally blasphe- 
mous in their bishops pretending to give the Holy 
Ghost, with the power of forgiving and retaining 
sins. Their surplices are but the rags of the 
whore of Babylon. Their organs and music in 
their Churches, their singing boys, their Anthems 
and Te Deums are all Popish inventions. 

"Fourthly, their Church government by arch- 
bishops and bishops, their spiritual courts, their 
dignities of deans, archdeacons, prebendaries, &;c. 
are all visibly derived from the Papists,* and like 
the Papists, their bishops pretend to give confirma- 
tion; in which they are the less excusable, because 
in their very articles of religion, art. 25, they de- 
clare that confirmation comes of a corrupt follow- 
ing of the Apostles. The same thing they declare 
with regard to the Popish sacrament of penance 
or priestly absolution, and yet have retained it in 
their order for the visitation of the sick; where 
they prescribe auricular confession and a form of 
absolution, th3 same in substance as that used in 
the Church of Rome. 

" Fifthly, like the Papists they pay an idolatrous 
worship to the elements of bread and wine, to 
which they kneel at the time of communion: and 
their declaring (contrary to the express words of 
their Catechism) that they do not believe the body 
and blood of Christ to be there, does but aggravate 
their guilt beyond that of the Papists, because these 
believe that in the sacrament they worship Christ, 
whereas our pretended Protestants believe they 
have nothing there but bread and wine. 

" Sixthly, they observe days like the Papists in 



24 PREFACE, 

honour of the saints and angels; which if it be no 
religious worship, I know not what is. They pray 
to be defended by the angels in their collect for 
Michaelmas-day, which is rank Popery. Their 
calendar is full of Popish saints. They prescribe 
fasts and abstinence like the Papists; and from 
them have taken into their books, the fasts of 
Lent, Vigils, Ember-days and Fridays: though to 
give them their due, this part of Popery, for a 
long time, has been found no where but in their 
books. 

**In fine, their godfathers and godmothers m 
baptism, their churching of women after child- 
bearing, their whole order of matrimony, their 
consecration of churches, their anointing of kings, 
and such like observances, are no better than Po- 
pery; and, in a word, the whole, face of their re- 
ligion, both in town and country, is an exact re- 
semblance of that of their Popish forefathers. And 
consequently, since Popery and Paganism stand 
upon a level, I cannot but conclude, that English 
Protestancy is nearly allied to Paganism. For 
whilst we see these pretended Protestants worship- 
ing at this day in the same temples, at the same 
altars, sometimes before the same images, and al- 
ways with the same liturgy, and many of the same 
ceremonies, as the Papists did, they must have 
more charity, as well as skill in distinguishing, 
than I pretend to, who can absolve them from the 
same crime of superstition and idolatry with their 
Popish ancestors." Dr. Middleton, p. 70, 71. 

So far the Nonconformist agreeably to the cop} 
which the Doctor has set him in his parallel be 
tween Popery and Paganism. Now this kind of 
rhetoric, I am persuaded, whatever effect it migh. 



PREFACE. 25 

have with regard to Dissenters, would excite no 
other motions in the minds of Church Protestants 
than those of indignation or contempt: and the 
same would be their dispositions with regard to 
Dr. Middleton's performance, if they would make 
use of the same weights and measures in our case 
as in their own. 

I shall add no more, but that I cannot but appre- 
hend that the Doctor, in pretending to impeach us 
of Paganism, has impugned the known truth: a 
truth so evident, that notwithstanding the violent 
humour of Luther, and all his bitter declarations 
against us, yet he could not help acknowledging, 
in his book against the Anabaptists, "That under 
the Papacy are many good Christian things, yea, 
all that is good in Christianity; and that Protes- 
tants had it from thence. — I say, moreover, says 
he, that under the Papacy is true Christianity, 
even the very Icernel of Christianity." So far the 
father and apostle of the Reformation, who whilst 
he is forced to grant that we have the very kernel 
of Christianity, 1 fear has kept nothing for himself 
but the shell. If the Doctor in quality of one of 
his children, has inherited any part of his trea- 
sure, I do not envy him the inheritance, but shall 
ieave him in the quiet possession of it. 



8 



tHE 

CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN 

INSTRUCTED 

m THE 

SACRAMENTS, SACRIFICE, CEREMONIES, 

AND 

OBSERVANCES OF THE CHURCH 



CHAPTER I 

OF THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. 

Q. Why do you treat of the sign of the cross, 
before you begin to speak of the sacrament? 

A, Because this holy sign is made use of in all 
the sacraments, to give us to understand, that they 
all have their whole force and efficacy from the 
cross, that is, from the death and passion of Jesus 
Christ. What is the sign of Christ, says St. Au- 
gustin,* which all know, but the cross of Christ;- 
which sign if it be not applied to the foreheads 
of the believers, to the water with which they are 
baptized, to the chrism, with which they are anoint- 
ed, to the sacrifice with which they are fed, none 
of these things is duly performed. 

Q. But did the primitive Christians only make 
use of the sign of the cross in the administration 
of the sacraments? 

* Tract 119 in Joan. 
27 



28 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A, Not only then, but also upon all other occasions 
at every step, says the ancient and learned Tertul- 
lian,* at every coming in and going out, when wo 
put on our clothes or shoes, when we wash, when wa 
sit down to table, when we light a candle, when wo 
go to bed — whatsoever conversation employs us, wo 
mprint on our foreheads the sign of the cross. 

Q. What is the meaning of this frequent use of 
the sign of the cross? 

A. It is to show that we are not ashamed of the 
cross of Christ; it is to make an open profession of 
our believing in a crucified God; it is to help us to 
bear always in mind his death and passion; and to 
nourish thereby in our souls the three divine vir- 
tues of Faith, Hope and Charity. 

Q. How are these three divine virtues exercised 
in the frequent use of the cross? 

A. First, faith is exercised, because, the sign of 
the cross brings to our remembrance the chief ar- 
ticle of the Christian belief, viz. The Son of God 
dying for us upon the cross. Secondly, our hopo 
is thereby daily nourished and increased; because 
this holy sign continually reminds us of the passion 
of Christ, on which is grounded all our hope for 
mercy, grace and salvation. Thirdly, charity, or 
the love of God is excited in us by that sacred sign; 
by representing to us the love which God has 
showed us in dying upon the cross for us. 

Q. In what manner do you make the sign of tho 
cross? 

A. In blessing ourselves, we form the sign of 
the cross by putting our right hand to the fore- 
head, and so drawing as it were, a line down to tho 
breast or stomach, and then another line crossing 



* L. dc Corena Milit. c. 3. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 29 

the former from the left shoulder to the right: and 
the words that we pronounce at the same time are 
these, Mn the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost;' by which we make a solemn 
profession of our faith in the blessed Trinity. But 
in blessing other persons or things we form the 
cross in the air with the right hand extended to- 
wards the thing we bless. 

Q. Have you any thing more to add in favour 
of the cross, and the use of signing ourselves with 
the sign of the cross? 

A, Yes, the cross is the standard of Christ, and 
is called by cur Lord himself, St. Matt. xxiv. 30. 
the sign of the Son of Man. It is the badge of 
all good Christians, represented by the letter Tau,* 
ordered to be set as a mark upon the forehead of 
those that were to escape the wrath of God, Eze- 
kiel ix. 4. It was given by our Lord to Constan- 
tino, the first Christian emperor, as a token and 
assurance of victory; when he and his whole army 
in their march against the tyrant Maxentius saw a 
cross formed of pure light, above the sun with this 
inscription, 'By this conquer;' which account the 
historian Eusebius, in his first book of the life of 
Constantino, declares he had from that emperor's 
own mouth. To which we may add that the sign 
of the cross was used of old by the holy fathers, 
as an invincible buckler against the devil, and a 
powerful means to dissipate his illusions; and that 
God has often made it an instrument in their hands 
of great and illustrious miracles, of which there 
are innumerable instances in ancient church his- 
tory, and in the writings of the fathers, which it 
would be too tedious here to recount. 



* St. Hierom upon Ezek. ix. 
3* 



30 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

CHAPTER II. 

OF THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 

Q. What do you mean by a Sacrament ? 

A, An outward sign or ceremony of Christ's 
instituliorj, by which grace is given to the soul of 
the worthy receiver. 

Q. What are the necessary conditions for a 
thing to be a Sacrament? 

A. These three. First, it must be a sacred sign, 
and consequently, as to the outward performance, 
it must be visible or sensible. Secondly, this sa- 
cred sign must have annexed unto it a power of 
communicating grace to the soul. Thirdly, this 
must be .by virtue of the ordinance or institution 
of Christ. 

Q. How then do you prove that baptism is a 
sacrament, since the scripture nowhere calls it so? 

A, Because it has these three conditions. First, 
it is an outward visible sign, consisting in the wash- 
ing with water, with the form of words prescribed 
by Christ. Secondly, it has a power of communi- 
cating grace to our souls, in the way of a new 
birth; whence it is called by the Apostle, Tit. iii. 6. 
*The laver or washing of regeneration and renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost.' Thirdly, we have the 
ordinance and institution of Christ, St. Matt, xxviii. 
19. ^Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost.' And St. John iii. 5. 'Except a man 
be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he 
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

Q. In what manner must baptism be administer 
ed, so as to be valid? 

A. It must be administered in true natural wa 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 31 

ter, with this or the like form of words. ' I bap- 
tize thee in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost;' which words ought 
to be pronounced at the same time as the water is 
applied to the person that is baptized, and by the 
same minister, who ought to have the intention of 
doing what the Church does. 

Q. What if these words ' I baptize thee,' or any 
one of the names of the Three Persons, should be 
left out? 

A, In that case it would be no baptism. 

Q, What if the baptism should be administered 
in rose-water, or any of the like artificial waters? 

A. It would be no baptism. 

Q. Ought baptism to be administered by dip- 
ping, or by pouring of the water; or by sprinkling 
of the water? 

A, It may be administered validly any of these 
ways; but the custom of the Church is to adminis- 
ter this sacrament either by dipping in the water, 
which is used in the East; or by pouring of the 
water upon the person baptized, which is more 
customary in these parts of Christendom. More- 
over, it is the custom in all parts of the Catholic 
Church, and has been so from the Apostles' days, 
to dip or pour three times at the names of the 
three divine persons; though we do not look upon 
*his so essential, that the doing otherwise would 
r3nder the baptism invalid. 

Q, What think you of those that administer 
baptism so slightly, that it is doubtful whether it 
may in any sense be called an ablution or washing; 
aa for instance, those that administer it only with 
a fillip of a wet finger? 

A, Such as these expose themselves to the dan- 
ger of administering no baptism. 



^^tttm^itk^^^aitgitmi^MM 



32 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. What do you think of baptism administered 
by heretics, or schismatics? 

A.' The Church receives their baptism, if they 
observe the Catholic matter and form; that is, if 
they baptize with true natural water, and have the 
intention of doing what the Church does; pro- 
nouncing at the same time these words, 'I baptize 
thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost.' 

Q. What think you of baptism administered 
with the due form of words, but without the sign 
of the cross? 

A, The omission of this ceremony does not ren- 
der the baptism invalid. 

Q. What is your judgment of the baptism said 
to be administered by some modern Arians, 'In the 
name of the Father, through the Son, in the Holy 
Ghost?' 

A. Such a corruption of the form makes the 
baptism null and invalid. 

Q. What is the doctrine of the Church as to 
baptism administered by a layman or by a woman? 

A. If it be attempted without necessity, it is a 
criminal presumption; though even then the bap- 
tism is valid, and is not to be reiterated: but, in a 
case of necessity, when a priest cannot be had, and 
a child is in immediate danger of death, baptism 
may not only validly, but also lawfully be adminis- 
tered by any person whatsoever. In which case a 
cleric, though only in lesser orders, is to be admit- 
ted preferably to a layman, and a man preferably 
to a woman, and a Catholic preferably to a heretic.; 

Q. How do you prove that infants may be bap4 
tized who are not capable of being taught or in- 
structed in the faith? 

A, I prove it, first, by a tradition which the 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED 33 

Church has received from the Apostles,* and prac- 
tised in all ages ever since; now as none were 
more likely or better qualified than the Apostles, 
to understand the true nneaning of the commission 
given them by their master to baptize all nations, 
so none were more diligent than they to execute 
faithfully this commission according to his mean- 
ing, and to teach their disciples to do the same, St. 
Matt, xxviii. 20. So that what the Church has 
received by tradition from the Apostles and their 
disciples, was undoubtedly agreeable to the com- 
mission of Christ. 

Secondly, I prove it by comparing together two 
texts of scripture, one of which declares, that with- 
out baptism no one can enter into the kingdom of 
heaven; St. John iii. 6. 'Except a man be born 
again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God.' The other text 
declares, that infants are capable of this kingdom, 
St. Luke xviii. 16. 'Suffer little children to come 
to me, and forbid them not; for of such is the king- 
dom of God :' and consequently they must be capa- 
ble of baptism. 

Thirdly, circumcision in the old law correspond- 
ed to baptism in the new law, and was a figure of 
it, Colos. ii. 11, 12. But circumcision was admin- 
istered to infants, Gen. xvii. Therefore baptism 
in like manner is to be administered to infants. 

Fourthly, we read in scripture of whole families 
baptized by St. Paul, Acts xvi. 15. and 33. 1 Cor. 
i. 16. Now it is probable that in so many whole 
families there were some infants. 



* St. Irenacue, I. 2. c. 39. Origen, 1. 5. in c. 6. ad Rom. 
St. Cyprian, Ep. ad Fidum. St. Chrysostom, Horn, ad Ncu- 
phytea. St. Augustine, l. 10. de G^n. c. 23. &c. 



rittii 



84 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Fifthly, as infants are not capable of helping 
themselves by faith and repentance, were they not 
capable of being helped by the sacrament of bap- 
tism, they could have no share in Christ, and no 
means to be delivered from original sin; and con- 
sequently almost one half of mankind dying before 
the use of reason must inevitably perish, if infants 
were not to be baptized. « 

Sixthly, if infants' baptism were invalid, the gates 
of hell would have long since prevailed against the 
Church; yea, for many ages there would have been 
no such thing as Christians upon earth; since for 
many ages before the Anabaptists arose, all persons 
had been baptized in their infancy, which baptism 
if it were null, they were no Christians, and con- 
sequently there was no church. Where then was 
that promise of Christ, St. Matt. xvi. 19. "Upon 
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against it.' And St. Matt, 
xxviii. 20. *Lo, I am with you always, even to 
the end of the world.' 

Besides, if infants' baptism be null, the first 
preachers of the Anabaptists had never received 
baptism, or had received it from those who never 
had been baptized. A likely set of men for bring- 
ing back God's truth banished from the world, who 
had not so much as received the first badge or 
character of a Christian; and who, so far from 
having orders or mission, had not so much as been 
baptized. 

Q. How do you prove against the Quakers that 
all persons ought to be baptized? 

A. From the commission of Christ, St. Matt. 
xxviii. 19. 'Go teach all nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost.' From that general sentence of our 



k 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 35 

Lord, St. John iii. 5. ^Except a man be born again 
of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of God.' From the practice of the Apos- 
tles, and of the first Christians, who were all bap- 
tized: thus we read. Acts ii. 38. with relation to 
the converts to Christianity at Jerusalem, when 
they asked of the Apostles, what they should do? 
that Peter said unto them, * Repent and be baptized 
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ.' 
And ver. 41. *Then they that gladly received his 
word were baptized,&c.' Thus we read of the 
Samaritans converted by Philip, Acts viii. 12, 13. 
that 'They were baptized both men and women: 
and that Simon (Magus) himself also believed and 
was baptized;' as was also the eunuch of Queen 
Candace, ver. 36. 38. Thus we find Paul baptized 
by Ananias, Acts ix. 18. Cornelius and his friends 
by order of St. Peter, Acts x. 47, 48. Lydia and 
her household, by St. Paul, Acts xvi. 15, &c. In 
fine, from the perpetual belief and practice of the 
whole Church ever since the Apostles' days, which 
in all ages and all nations has ever administered 
baptism in water to all her child ren, and never 
looked upon any to be Christians until they were 
baptized. Now 'if a person will not hear the 
Church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a 
publican,' St. Matt, xviii. 17. 

Q. How do you prove from scripture that the 
Apostles gave baptism in water? 

A, From Acts viii. 36. 38. *See here is water,' 
said the eunuch to St. Philip, 'what does hinder me 
Ao be baptized? .... and they both went down into 
the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he bap- 
tized him.' And Acts x. 47, 48. 'Can any man 
forbid water, said St. Peter, that those should not 
be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost 



86 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

as well as we? and he commanded them to be bap- 
tized in the name of the Lord.' Where we seo 
that even they who received the Holy Ghost, and 
consequently had been baptized by the Spirit, were 
nevertheless commanded to be baptized in water. 
Hence St. Paul, Ephes. v. 25, 26. tells us, that 
* Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it, 
that he might sanctify it, cleasing it by the laver 
of water, in the word of life:' and, Heb. x. 22. 
*Let us draw near with a true heart — having our 
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our 
bodies washed with pure water.' 

Q. What are the effects of the sacrament of 
baptism? 

A, First, it washes away original sin, in which 
we are all born, by reason of the sin of our first 
father, Adam. Secondly, it remits all actual sins, 
Which we ourselves have committed (in case we 
have committed any before baptism) both as to the 
guilt and pain. Thirdly, it infuses the habit of di- 
vine grace into our souls, and makes us the adopted 
children of God. Fourthly, it gives us a right and 
title to the kingdom of heaven. Fifthly, it imprints 
a character or spiritual mark in the soul. Sixthly, 
in fine, it lets us into the Church of God, and makes 
us children and members of the Church. 

Q. How do you prove that all sins are remitted 
in baptism? 

A. From Acts ii. 38. 'Repent and be baptized 
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for 
the remission of sins' Acts xxii. 16. 'Arise and 
be baptized,' says Ananias to Paul, and wash away 
thy sins [in the Greek be washed from thy sins] 
calling upon the name of the Lord.' Ezekiel, 
xxxvi. 25. 'I will pour clean water upon you, 
and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness.' 



CATHOLIC CHEISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 37 

Hence, in the Nicene creed, we confess one bap- 
tism unto the remission of sins. 

Q. May not a person obtain the remission of his 
sins, and eternal salvation, without being actually 
baptized? 

A, In two cases he may. The first is, when a 
person not yet baptized, but heartily desiring bap» 
tism, is put to death for the faith of Christ, befor 
he can have this sacrament administered to him 
for such a one is baptized in his own blood. The 
second case is, when a person, that can by no means 
procure the actual administration of baptism, has 
an earnest desire of it, joined with a perfect love 
of God, and repentance of his sins, and dies in this 
disposition: for this is called the baptism of the 
Holy Ghost; Baptismus Flaminis. 

Q. From whence has baptism the power of con* 
fering grace, and washing away our sins? 

A, From the institution of Christ, and in virtue 
of his blood, passion and death. From whence 
also all the other sacraments have their efficacy. 
For there is no obtaining mercy, grace or salva- 
tion, but through the passion of Jesus Christ. 

Q. In what manner must a person, that is come 
to years of discretion, prepare himself for the 
sacrament of baptism? 

A. By faith and repentance: and therefore it is 
necessary that he be first well instructed in the 
Christian doctrine, and that he firmly believe all the 
articles of the Catholic Faith. Secondly, that he 
be heartily sorry for all his sins, firmly resolving 
to lead a good Christian life, to renounce all sinful 
habits, and to make full satisfaction to all whom he 
has any ways injured. 

Q. But what if a person should be baptized 
without being in these dispositions? 

4 



k 



38 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A, In that case he would receive the sacrament 
and character of baptism, but not the grace of the 
sacrament, nor the remission of his sins, which 
he cannot obtain until by a sincere repentance he 
detests and renounces all his sins. 

Q. Is it necessary for a person to go to confes- 
sion before he receives the sacrament of baptism? 

A, No, it is not : because the sins committed be- 
fore baptism are washed away by baptism, and not 
by the sacrament of penance; and therefore there 
s no need of confessing them. 

Q. What think you of those that put off for a 
long time their children's baptism. 

A. I think they are guilty of a sin, in exposing 
them to the danger of dying without baptism: 
since, as daily experience ought to convince them, 
young children are so quickly and so easily snatch- 
ed away by death. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM; AND OF THE MAN- 
NER OF ADMINISTERING THIS SACRAMENT IN THE 
CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

Q. Why does the Church make use of so many 
ceremonies in baptism? 

A, First, to render thereby this mystery more 
venerable to the people. Secondly, to make them 
understand the effects of this sacrament, and what 
the obligations are, which they contract in this 
sacrament. 

Q. Are the ceremonies of baptism very ancient 

A, They are all of them very ancient, as may 
be demonstrated from the writings of the holy 
fathers; and as we know no beginning of them, 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 39 

we have reason to conclude that they come from 
apostolical tradition. 

Q. In what places does the Church administer 
the sacrament of baptism? 

A, Regularly speaking, and excepting the case 
of necessity, she does not allow baptism to be ad- 
ministered any where else but in the churches 
which have fonts: the water of which by apostoli- 
cal traditions, is solemnly blessed every y«ar on 
the vigils of Easter and Whit-Sunday. 

Q. What is the meaning of having godfathers 
and godmothers in baptism? 

A. First, that they present to the Church the 
person that is to be baptized, and may be witnesses 
of his baptism; secondly, that they may answer in 
his name, and be sureties for his performance of 
the promises which they make for him. 

,Q. What is the duty of godfathers and god- 
mothers? 

A, To see, as much as lies in them, that their 
godchildren may be brought up in the true faith, 
and in the fear of God; that they be timely in- 
structed in the whole Christian doctrine, and that 
they make good those engagments which they have 
made in their name. 

Q. May all sorts of persons be admitted for god- 
fathers and godmothers?. 

A, No: but only such as are duly qualified for 
discharging the obligations of a godfather or god- 
mother. Upon which account none are to be 
admitted that are not members of the Catholic 
Church; none whose lives are publicly scandalous; 
none who are ignorant of the Christian doctrine, 
&c. E,it. Rom. • 

Q. How many godfathers and godmothers may 
a person have in the Catholic Church? 



4K) CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A The council of Ti*ent, sess. 24. chap. 2. or- 
ders, that no one should have any more than one 
godfather and one godmother: that the spiritual 
kindred, which the child and its parents contract 
with the godfathers and godmothers, and which is 
an impediment of marriage, may not be extended 
to too many persons. 

Q. In what order or manner does the Catholic 
Church proceed in the administration of baptism? 

A First, the priest having asked the name of 
the person that is to be baptized, (which ought not 
to be any profane or heathenish name, but the 
name of some saint, by whose example he may be 
excited to a holy life, and by whose prayers he 
may be protected) inquires of him; ' N, what dost 
thou demand of the Church of God?' To which 
the person himself, if at age, or the godfather and 
godmother for him, answer, faith: by which is 
meant not the bare virtue, by which we believe 
what God teaches, but the whole body of Chris- 
tianity, as comprehending both belief and practice; 
into which the faithful enter by the gate of bap- 
tism. The priest goes on and asks; 'what does 
faith give thee?' Answ. Life everlasting. 

Priest, 'If then thou wilt enter into life keep the 
commandments; thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and 
with thy whole mind ; and thy neighbour as thyself.' 

After this, the priest blows three times upon the 
face of the person that is to be baptized, saying, 
^depart out of him or her, O unclean spirit! and 
give place to the Holy Ghost the comforter.' This 
ceremony \^as practised by the universal Church, 
long before St. Augustine's days who calls it,* a 



* L. de Nuptis, c. 18. and 29. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 41 

most ancient tradition; and it is used in contempt 
of satan, and to drive him away by the Holy Ghost, 
who is called the Spirit or breath of God. 

Then the priest makes the sign of the cross, on 
the forehead and on the breast of the person that 
is to be baptized, saying, 'Receive the sign of the 
cross, upon thy forehead, and in thy heart; receive 
the faith of the heavenly commandments, and let 
thy manners be such, that thou mayest now be the 
temple of GocJ,' This sign of the cross upon the 
forehead, is to give us to understand, that we are 
to make open profession of the faith of a crucified 
God, and never to be ashamed of his cross: and 
the sign of the cross upon the breast is to teach us, 
that we are always to have Christ crucified in 
our hearts. 

After this, there follow some prayers for the 
person that is to be baptized, to beg of God to dis- 
pose his soul for the grace of baptism. Then the 
priest blesses some salt, and puts a grain of it in 
the mouth of the person that is to be baptized. 

By which ancient ceremony we are admonished 
to procure and maintain in our souls true wisdom 
and prudence; of which salt is an emblem or fi- 
gure, inasmuch as it seasons and gives a relish to 
all things. Upon which account it was command- 
ed in the; law, Levit. ii. 13. that salt should be 
used in every sacrifice or oblation made to God; to 
whom no offering can be pleasing where the salt 
of discretion is wanting. We are also admonished 
by this ceremony so to season our souls with the 
grace of God, as to keep them from the corruption 
of sin, as we make use of salt to keep things from 
corrupting. 

Then the priest proceeds to the solemn prayers 
and exorcisms, used of old by the Catholic Church 

4* 



42 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

in the administration of baptism, to call out the 
devil from the soul, under whose power we are 
born by original sin. 'I exorcise thee, says he, 
O unclean spirit! in the name of the Father ^, and 
of the Son ^, and of the Holy Ghost >i<, that thou 
mayest go out, and depart from this servant of 
trod, N. For he commands thee, O! thou accursed 
and condemned wretch, who with his feet walked 
upon the sea, and stretched forth his right hand to 
Peter that was sinking. Therefore, O accursed 
devil! remember thy sentence, and give honour to 
the living and true God. Give honour to Jesus 
Christ his Son, and to the Holy Ghost, and depart 
from this servant of God, N. For our God and 
Lord Jesus Christ has vouchsafed to call him to his 
holy grace and blessing and to the font of baptism.' 
Then he signs the forehead with the sign of the 
cross, saying, ^And this sign of the holy cross, 
which we imprint on his forehead, mayest thou, 
O cursed devil! never dare to violate, through the 
same Christ our Lord, Amen.' 

All that has been hitherto set down of the pray- 
ers and ceremonies of baptism, is usually perform- 
ed in the porch or entry of the church, to signify 
that the catechumen, or person that is to be bap- 
tized is not worthy to enter into the church, until 
the devil first be cast out of his soul. But after 
these prayers and exorcisms the priest reaches 
forth the extremity of his stole to the catechumen, 
or if it be an infant, lays it upon him, and so in- 
troduces him into the church, saying, ' N. come 
into the temple of God, that thou mayest have part 
with Christ, unto everlasting life, Amen.' 

Being come into the church, the Priest, jointly 
with the party that is to be baptized, or if it be an 
infant, with the godfather and godmother, recites 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 43^ 

aloud the Apostles' creed and the Lord's prayer. 
Then he reads another exorcism over the catechu- 
men, commanding the devil to depart in the name, 
and by the power of the most blessed Trinity. After 
which, in imitation of Christ, who cured with his 
spittle the man that was deaf and dumb, St. Mark 
vii. 32, &;c. he wets his finger with his spittle, and 
touches first the ears of the catechumen, saying, 
'Ephphetha,' that is, be thou opened: then his 
nostrils, adding these words, 'unto the odour of 
sw^eetness.' 'But be thou put to fligth, O devil! 
for the judgment of God will be at hand,' by which 
ceremony the Church instructs her catechumens 
to have their ears open to God's truth, and to smell 
its sweetness; and begs this grace for them. 

Then the priest asks the person that is to be 
baptized, ' N, dost thou renounce Satan?' To 
which the person himself, if at age, otherwise 
the godfather and godmother in his name, answer: 
'I renounce him.' The priest goes on, 'and all his 
works?' Answ. 'I renounce them.' Priest. 'And 
all his pomps?' Answ. 'I renounce them.' 

This solemn renouncing of Satan, and his works, 
and his pomps, in the receiving of baptism, is a 
practice as ancient as the Church itself, and in a 
particular manner requires our attention: because 
it is a promise and vow that we make to God, by 
which we engage ourselves to abandon the party 
of the devil, to have nothing to do with his works, 
that is, with the works of darkness and sin; and to 
cast away from us his pomps, that is, the maxims 
and vanities of the world. It is a covenant we 
make with God, by which we, on our part, pro- 
mise him our allegiance, and to fight against his 
enemies; and he, on his part promises us life ever- 
lasting, if we are faithful to our engagements. 



^im 



44 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

But in the moment we break this solemn covenant 
by wilful sin, we lose both the grace of baptism, 
and all that title to an eternal inheritance which 
we' received in baptism, together with the dignity 
of children of God; and become immediately slaves 
to the devil, and children of hell. 

After this renouncing Satan, and declaring war 
against him, to give us to understand what kind of 
arms we are to procure in this spiritual conflict, 
the priest anoints the catechumen upon the breast, 
and between the shoulders, with holy oil, which 
is solemnly blessed by the bishop every year on 
Maunday-Thursday ; which outward unction is to 
represent the inward anointing of the soul by 
divine grace, which, like a sacred oil, penetrates 
our hearts, heals the wounds of our souls, and for- 
tifies them against our passions and concupiscences. 
Where note, that the anointing of the breast is to 
signify the necessity of fortifying the heart with 
heavenly courage, to act manfully, and to do our 
duty in all things; and the anointing between the 
shoulders is to signify the necessity of the like 
grace to bear and support all the adversities and 
crosses of this mortal life. The words which the 
priest uses at this conjuncture are, 'I anoint thee 
with the oil of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord, 
^that thou mayest have eternal life. Amen.' 

Then the priest asks the catechumen, 'N, dost 
thou believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator 
of heaven and earth?' Answ. 'I believe.' Priest 
*Dost thou believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, 
our Lord, who was born and who suffered for 
us?' Answ. 'I believe.' Priest. 'Dost thou believe 
in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the 
communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the 
resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?' 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 45 

Answ. ' I believe.' Which answers are made, either 
by the catechumen himself, if able, or by the god- 
father and godmother; and imply another part of 
the covenant of baptism, viz. the covenant of faith; 
by which we oblige ourselves to a steady and sin- 
cere profession of. the great truths of Christianity, 
and that not by words alone, but by the constant 
practice of our lives. 

After this the priest asks; 'iV. wilt thou be bap- 
tized?' Answ. 'I will.' Then the godfather and 
godmother both holding or touching their godchild, 
the priest pours the water upon his head three 
times in the form of a cross, or where the custom 
is to dip, dips him three times, saying at the same 
time these words; ' N. I baptize thee in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost.' Which words are pronounced in such 
manner, that the three pourings of the water con- 
cur with the pronouncing of the three names of 
the divine Persons. For the form is to be pro- 
nounced but once. 

But if there be a doubt whether the person has 
been baptized before or not? then the priest makes 
use of tins form, ' N. if thou art not already bap- 
tized, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' 

Then the priest anoints the person baptized on 
the top of the head in form of a cross with holy 
chrism, which is a compound of oil and balm, so- 
lemnly consecrated by the bishop. Which cere- 
mony comes from apostolical tradition, and gives 
us to understand, first, that in baptism we are 
made partakers with Christ, (whose name signifies 
anointed) and have a share in his unction and 
grace. Secondly, that we partake also in some 
manner in his dignity of king and priest, as all 



46 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Christians are called by St. Peter, 1 Pet. ii. 9. a 
royal or kingly priesthood, and therefore we are 
anointed, in this quality as kings and priests are 
anointed. Thirdly, that we are consecrated to 
God by baptism, and therefore are anointed with 
holy chrism, which the Church is accustomed to 
make use of in anointing all those things which 
she so solemnly consecrates to the service of God. L 

The prayer which the priest recites on this 
occasion is as follows. ' May the Almighty God, 
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has 
regenerated thee of water and the Holy Ghost, 
and who has given thee the remission of all thy 
sins ^, anoint thee with the chrism of salvation in 
the same Christ Jesus our Lord, unto life everlast- 
ing.** Amen. Then the priest says, 'Peace be to 
thee.' Answ. 'And with thy spirit.' 

After which the priest puts upon the head of 
the person that has been baptized, a white linen 
cloth, commonly called the chrism, in place of the 
white garment with which the new Christians used 
formerly to be clothed in baptism, to signify the 
purity and innocence which we receive in baptism, 
and which we must take care to preserve until 
death. In putting on this white linen, the priest 
says, 'Receive this white garment, which thou 
mayest carry unstained, before the judgment-seat 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayest have 
eternal life. Amen.' 

Then he puts a lighted candle into the hand of 
the person baptized, or of the godfather, saying, 
'Receive this burning light, and keep thy baptism 
without reproof; observe the commandments of 
God, that when our Lord shall come to his nup- 
tials, thou mayest meet him together with all the 
saints, in the heavenly court, and mayest have life 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 47 

eternal, and mayest live for ever and ever, Amen.' 
Which ceremony alludes to the parable of the ten 
virgins, St. Matt. xxv. who took their lamps and 
went forth to meet the bridegroom, and admonishes 
us to keep the light of faith ever burning by the 
oil of good works; that whensoever our Lord shall 
come, we may be found with our lamps burning, 
and may go in with him into the eternal life of his 
heavenly kingdom. 

Lastly, the priest addressing himself to the per- 
son baptized, says, ' N. go in peace, and the Lord 
be with thee, x\men.' Then he admonishes as well 
the parents, as the godfather and godmother, of 
their respective duty, with regard to the education 
and instruction of their child; and of the care 
which the Chuch requires of the parents, not to let 
the child lie in the same bed with them or with the 
nurse, for fear of its being overlaid. And lastly, 
informs them of the spiritual kindred which is con- 
tracted between the gossips and the child; which 
makes it unlawful for them afterwards to marry 
with those to whom they are thus spiritually allied. 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION, AND OF THE 
MANNER OF ADMINISTERING IT. 

Q. What do you mean by confirmation? 

A, A sacrament by which the faithful after bap- 
tism receive the Holy Ghost, by the imposition of 
ihe hands of the bishop and prayer, accompanied 
with the unction or anointing of their foreheads 
with holy chrism. 

Q. Why do you call it confirmation? 

A. From its eflTect, which is to confirm or strength- 



48 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAK INSTRUCTED. 

en those that receive it in the profession of the 
true faith, to make them soldiers of Christ, and 
perfect Christians, and to arm them against their 
spiritual enemies. 

Q. How do you prove from scripture, that the 
Apojtles practised confirmation? 

A. I prove it from Acts viii. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 
where we read of St. Peter and St. John confirm 
ing the Samaritans. ' They prayed for them that 
they might receive the Holy Ghost, .... then they 
laid their hands on them, and they received the 
Holy Ghost, &c. item, Acts xix. 5, 6. They were 
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And 
when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy 
Ghost came on them."' It is of confirmation also 
that St. Paul speaks, Heb. vi. 1, 2. 'Not laying 
again the foundation, &c. of the doctrine of bap- 
tism, and of laying on of hands, &c.' And 2 Cor. 
i. 21, 22. 'Now he who confirmeth us with you in 
Christ, and hath anointed us, is God: who hath 
also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit 
in our hearts.' 

Q. How do you prove that confirmation is a 
sacrament? 

A. First, because it is plain from Acts viii. that 
the visible sign of the imposition of hands has an- 
nexed to it an invisible grace, viz. the imparting 
of the Holy Ghost: consequently confirmation is a 
visible sign of invisible grace, and therefore is a 
sacrament. Secondly, because the Church of God 
from the Apostles' days, has always believed it to 
be a sacrament, and administered it as such. See 
St. Dioiiysius, L. de Eccles. Heriarch, c. 4. Ter- 
tullian L. de Baptismo^ c. 7. L. de Resurrectione 
carnis^ c. 8. L. de PrcBscrip. adversus HcBreses. c. 
4. St, Cornelius^ Epist. ad Fdblum Antioch. apud 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 49 

Eusehiwrij L. 6. Histor. c. 43. St, Cyprian, Epist. 
70. ad Januarium, Epist. 72, ad Stephanum Papam, 
Epist, 73. ad Juhianum, Epist. 74. ad Pomperum. 
Firmilian, Epist. ad St. Cyprianum. The Council 
of Illiheris, Can. 38. The Council of Laodicea, 
Can. 48. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. 3. Mystag, 
St. Pacian. Epist. 1. ^ 3. ad Symnon. Sf in Sermone 
de Baptismo. St. Ambrose, L. de iis qui mysteriis 
initiantur, c. 7. The Author of the Books of the 
Sdcraments attributed to St. Ambrose, L. 3. c. 2. 
St. Optat. of Milevis. L. 7 contra Parmenianum. 
St. Hierome in Dialogo contra Luciferianos. St. 
Innocentius, Epist. 9. ad Dicentium. St. Augus- 
tine, Tract. 6. in Epist. 1. Joannis, L. 2. contra Li- 
teras Petilani, c. 104, c^c. St. Cyril of Alexan- 
dria, ad Joelis, 2. i?. 24. St. Leo Pope, Serm, 4. de 
nativi. Theodoret in comment, ad Cantic. 1. v. 3. 
St. Gregory the great, Homil. 17. in Evangelia, &fC. 

Q. Who is the minister of this sacrament? 

A. The ordinary minister of this sacrament is a 
bishop only. 

Q. Can this sacrament be received any more 
than once? 

A. No, because, like baptism, it imprints a char- 
acter or spiritual mark in the soul, which always 
remains. Hence, those that are to be confirmed 
are obliged to be so much the more careful to come 
to this sacrament worthily, because, it can be re- 
ceived but once; and if they then receive it un- 
worthily, they have no share in the grace which 
is thereby communicated to the soul; instead of 
which, they incur the guilt of a grievous sacrilege. 

Q. In what disposition is a person to be, in 
order to approach worthily to the sacrament of 
confirmation? 

A. He must be free from mortal sin, and in the 

5 



50 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

State of grace; for the Holy Ghost will never come 
into a soul which Satan possesses by mortal sin. 

Q. In what manner then must a person prepare 
himself for the sacrament of confirmation? 

A. First, he must examine 'his conscience, and 
if he finds it charged with wilful sin, he must take 
care to purge it by a good confession. Secondly, 
he must frequently and fervently call upon God, 
to dispose his soul for receiving theHoly Ghost. 

Q. What kind of grace does this sacrament 
communicate to the soul? 

A, It communicates to the soul the fountain of 
all grace, the Holy Ghost, with all its gifts; but 
more in particular a fortifying grace to strengthen 
the soul against all visible and inivisible enemies 
of the faith. 

Q. Is then this sacrament absolutely necessary 
to salvation? 

A. It is not so necessary, but that a person 
may be saved without it: yet, it would be a sin to 
neglect it, when a person might conveniently have 
it; and a crime to contemn or despise it. 

Q. What kind of persons stand most in need of 
the grace of this sacrament? 

A. Those that are the most exposed to persecu- 
tions upon account of their religion, or to tempta- 
tions against faith. 

Q. At what age may a person be confirmed? 

A. Ordinarily speaking, the Church does not 
give confirmation until the person is come to the 
use of reason, though sometimes she confirms in- 
fants; in which case great care must be taken, and 
they be put in mind, when they come to the use of 
reason, that they have received this sacrament. 

Q. What is the obligation that a christian takes 
upon him in confirmation? 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 51 

A. He lists himself there for a soldier of Christ; 
and consequently is obliged, after having received 
this sacrament, to fight manfully the battles of 
his Lord. 

Q. May a person have a godfather or godmoth- 
er in confirmation? 

A, He may by way of an instructor and encour- 
ager in the spiritual warfare; and this godfather 
or godmother contracts the like obligations as in 
the sacrament of baptism, and the same spiritual 
kindred. 

Q. May a person .that is confirmed take a new 
name? 

A, It is useful so to do, not by way of changing 
one's name of baptism, but by way of adding to 
it another name of some saint, to whom one has 
a particular devotion, and by whose prayers he 
hopes to acquit himself more faithfully of the obli- 
gations of a soldier in Christ. 

Q. Is a person obliged to receive this sacrament 
fasting? 

A. No, he is not, though it is advisable so to 
receive it. 

Q. In what manner is the sacrament of con- 
firmation administered? 

A, First: the bishop turning towards those that 
are to be confirmed, with his hands joined before 
his breast, says, 'May the Holy Ghost come down 
upon you, and the power of the Most High keep 
you from sins.' 

Answ. Amen. 

Then signing himself with the sign of the cross, 
he says, ' Our help is in the name of the Lord.' 

Answ. Who made heaven and earth, &c. 

Then extending his hands towards those that 
art *o be confirmed (which is what the ancients 



62 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

call the imposition of hands) he prays that they 
may receive the Holy Ghost. 

Bishop. Let us pray, 

O Almighty everlasting God! who hast vouch- 
safed to regenerate these thy servants by water 
and the Holy Ghost; and who hast given them the 
remission of all their sins; send forth upon them 
thy sevenfold Holy Spirit, the Comforter from 
heaven. Answ. Amen. 

Bisli. The spirit of wisdom and of understanding. 

Answ. Amen. 

Bish. The spirit of counsel and of fortitude. 

Answ. Amen. 

Bish, The spirit of knowledge and of piety. 

Answ. Amen. 

Bish. Replenish them with the spirit of thy 
fear, and sign them with the sign of the cross ►fi 
of Christ, in thy mercy, unto life everlasting: 
Through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord 
who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity 
of the same Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and 
ever. Amen. 

Then the bishop makes the sign of the cross 
with holy chrism, upon the forehead of each one 
of those that are to be confirmed, saying, ' N. I 
sign thee with the sign of the cross, I Confirm thee 
with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 
Amen.' 

After which he gives the person confirmed a 
Jittle blow on the cheek, saying. Pax tecu?n, that 
is, peace be with thee. 

Then the bishop standing with his face towards 
the altar, prays for those that have been confirm- 
ed, that the Holy Ghost may ever dwell in their 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 53 

hearts, and make them the temple of his glory. 
And then dismisses them with this blessing: 'Be- 
hold thus shall every man be blessed, who feareth 
the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Sion, 
that you may see the good things of Jerusalem 
all the days of your life; and may have life ever- 
lasting, Amen. 

Q. I would willingly be instructed in the mean- 
mg of these ceremonies: therefore pray tell me 
first why the Church makes use of chrism in con- 
firmation, and what this chrism is? 

A. Chrism is a compound of oil of olives and 
balm of Gilead, solemnly consecrated by the bishop 
on Maundy-Thursday: and the unction, or outward 
anointing the forehead with Chrism, is to repre- 
sent the inward anointing of the soul in this sacra- 
ment with the Holy Ghost. The oil, whose pro- 
perties are to fortify the limbs, and to give a cer- 
tain vigour to the body, to assuage our pains, &c. 
represents the like spiritual effects of the grace of 
this sacrament in the soul, and the balm, which is 
of a sweet smell, represents the good odour or 
sweet savour of christian virtues, and an innocent 
life, with which we are to edify our neighbours 
after having received the sacrament. 

Q. Why is this unction made on the forehead, 
and in form of the cross? 

A. To give us to understand that the effect of 
this sacrament is to arm us against worldly fear 
and shame: and therefore we receive the standard 
of the cross of Christ upon our foreheads, to teach 
us to make an open profession of his doctrine and 
maxims; and not to flinch from this profession, 
for fear of any thing that the world can either 
say or do. 

Q. What is the meaning of the Bishop's giving 
6* 



54 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

a little blow on the cheek to the person that is 
confirmed ? ^ 

A. It is to imprint in his mind, that from this 
time forward he is to be ready, like a true soldier 
of Jesus Christ, to suffer patiently all kinds of 
affronts and injuries for his faith. 

Q. And why does the bishop, at the same time 
as he gives the blow, say, peace be with thee? 

A, To signify that the true peace of God, which, 
as St. Paul says,'^ exceeds all understanding, is 
chiefly to be found in patient suffering for God 
and his truths. 



CHAPTER V. 

OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST. 

Q. What do you mean by the sacrament of the 
Eucharist? 

A, The sacrament which our Lord Jesus Christ 
instituted at his last supper, in which he gives us 
his body and blood under the forms or appearances 
of bread and wine. 

Q. Why do you call this sacrament the Eu- 
charist? 

A. Because the primitive Church and the holy 
fathers! have usually called it so: for the word Eu- 
charist in the Greek signifies thanksgiving, and is 
applied to this sacrament, because of the thanks- 
giving which our Lord offered in the first institu- 
tion of it, St. Matt. xxvi. 27. St. Mark xiv. 23. St. 
Jjuke xxii. 19. 1 Cor. xi. 24. .And because of the 

* Philip, iv. 7. 

t St. Justin, in Apolog. 2. St. Irenaeus, 1. 4. c. 34. 
Tertullian L. de Cor. militis, c. 3. St. Cyprian Epist. 64, 
First Council of Nice, Can. 18. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 55 

thanksgiving with which we are obliged to offer 
and receive this great sacrament and sacrifice, 
which contains the abridgment of all God's won- 
ders, the fountain of all grace, the standing memo- 
rial of our redemption, and the pledge of a happy 
eternity. This blessed sacrament is also called the 
holy communion, because it unites the faithful with 
one another, and with their head Christ Jesus, 1 
Cor. X. 16, 17. And it is called the supper of the 
Lord, because it was first instituted by Christ at 
his last supper. 

Q. What is the faith of the Catholic Church, 
concerning this sacrament? 

A. That the bread and wine are changed by the 
consecration into the body and blood of Christ. 

Q. Is it then the belief of the Church that Jesus 
Christ himself, true God and man, is truly, really 
and substantially present in the blessed sacrament? 

A, It is, for where the body and blood of Christ 
are, there his soul also and his divinity must needs 
be. And consequently, there must be whole Christ 
God and man : there is no taking him in pieces. 

Q. Is that which they receive in this sacrament 
the same body as that which was born of the bless- 
ed Virgin, and which suffered for us upon the cross. 

A. It is the same body: for Christ never had 
but one body: the only difference is, that then his 
body was mortal and passible, it is now immortal 
and impassible. 

Q. Then the body of Christ in the sacrament 
cannot be hurt or divided, neither is it capable of 
being digested or corrupted? 

A, No, certainly, for though the sacramental spe- 
cies, or the outward forms of bread and wine are 
liable to these changes, the body of Christ is not. 

Q. Is it then a spiritual body ? 



1 

56 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A, It may be called a spiritual body, in the same 
sense as St. Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 44. speaking of the 
resurrection of the body, says, 'It is sown a natu- 
ral body, it is raised a spiritual body :' not, but that 
it still remains a true body, as to all that is essen- 
tial to a body; but that it partakes in some measure 
of the qualities and properties of a spirit. 



SECTION I. 

THE FIRST PROOF OF THE REAL PRESENCE, FROM THE 
WORDS OF CHRIST AT THE FIRST INSTITUTION OF 
THIS BLESSED SACRAMENT. 

Q. How do you prove the real presence of the 
body and blood of Christ in this sacrament? 

A. I prove it first from the express and plain 
words of Christ himself the eternal truth, deliver- 
ed at the time of the first insiitution of this blessed 
sacrament, and recorded in no less than four dif- 
ferent places in the New Testament, viz, St. Matt, 
xxvi. 26, 27. St. Mark xiv. 22. 24. St. Luke xxii. 
19. 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25. In all these places Christ 
himself assures us that what he gives us in the 
blessed sacrament is his own body and blood, St. 
Matt. xxvi. 'Take eat; this is my tmd^i. . . . This 
is my BLOOD of the New Testament^ which is shed 
for many for the remission of sins.' St. Mark xiv, 
'Take, eat; this is my. body — T\\\?, is my blood 
of the New Testament, which is shed for many.*^ 
St. Luke xxii. ^This is my body which is given for 
you — This cup is the New Testament in my blood 
which is shed for you.' 1 Cor. xi ' This is my 
body which is broken (klomenon saciificed) for you 
— This cup is the New Testament in my blood.* 
Now the body which was given and sacrificed for 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 57 

US, the blood of the New Testament which was 
shed for us, are verily and indeed the real body and 
blood of Christ. Therefore, what Christ gives 
us in this blessed sacrament is his real body and 
blood: nothing can be more plain. 

Q. Why do you take these words of Christ at 
his last supper according to the letter, rather than 
in the figurative sense? 

A. You might as well ask a traveller why he 
chooses the high-road, rather than to go by bye- 
paths with evident danger of losing his way. We 
take the words of Christ, according to their plain, 
obvious and natural meaning, agreeably to that ge- 
neral rule acknowledged by our adversaries,* that 
in interpreting scripture, the literal sense of the 
words is not to be forsaken, and a figurative one 
followed without necessity; and that the natural 
and proper sense is always to be preferred, where 
the case will admit it. It is not therefore incum- 
bent upon us to give a reason why we take these 
words of Christ, according to their natural and 
proper sense: but it is our adversaries, business to 
show a necessity of taking them otherwise. The 
words themselves plainly speak for us; for Christ 
did not say, this is a figure of my body, and this is 
a figure of my blood; but he said, this is my body, 
and this is my blood. It is their duty, as they 
tender the salvation of their souls, to beware of 
offering violence to texts so plain, and of wresting 
them from their evident meaning. 

However, we have many reasons to offer why 
we take the words of Christ (which he spoke at his 
last supper in the institution of the blessed sacra- 
.ment) in their most plain, natural and obvious 

* Dr. Harris's sermon on transubstantiation, p. 7, 8. 



58 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

meaning. First, because he was then all alone 
with his twelve Apostles, his bosom friends and 
confidants, to whom he was always accustomed to 
explain in clear terms whatever was obscure in 
his parables or other discourses to the people, St. 
Mark iv. 11. 'To you, says he to his disciples, it 
is given to know the mystery (the secrets) of the 
kingdom of God, but unlo them that are without, 
all things are done in parables.' And ver. 34. 
' Without a parable spoke he not unto them (the 
people) but when they were alone he expounded 
all things to his disciples.' St. John xv. 15. 
^Henceforth I call you not servants; for the ser- 
vant knoweth not what his Lord doth: but I have 
called you friends, for all things that I have heard 
of my Father, I have made known unto you.' 
How then is it likely that in this most important 
occasion of all, when, the very night before his 
death, he was taking his last leave and farewell 
of these his dear friends, he should deliver himself 
to them in terms which (if they are not to be' 
taken according to the letter) are obscure beyond 
all example, and not anywhere to be paralleled? 

Secondly, he was at that time making a cov- 
enant, which was to last as long as time itself 
should last: he was enacting a law, which was to 
be for ever observed in his Church: he was insti- 
tuting a sacrament, which was to be frequented by 
all the faithful until he should come: he was, in 
fine, rnaking his last will and testament, and there- 
in bequeathing to his disciples, and to us all, an 
admirable legacy and pledge of his love. Now 
such is the nature of all these things, viz. of a 
covenant of a law, of a sacrament, of a last will 
and testament, that as he that makes a covenant, 
a law, &c. always designs, that what he covenants, 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 59 

appoints, or ordains, should be rightly observed 
and fulfilled; so of consequence he always designs 
that it should be rightly understood; and therefore 
always expresses himself in plain and clear terms 
in his covenants, laws, &;c. This is what all wise 
men ever observe in their covenants, laws, and last 
wills, industri\Dusly avoiding all obscure expres- 
sions, which may give occasion to their being mis- 
understood, or to contentions and lawsuits about 
their meaning. This is what God himself observ- 
ed in the old covenant; in all the ceremonial and 
moral precepts of the law: in all the command- 
ments, in the institution of the legal sacraments, 
&;c. All are expressed in most clear and plain 
terms. It can then be nothing less than impeach- 
ing the wisdom of the Son of God, to imagine that 
he should make his new law and everlasting cov- 
enant in figurative and obscure terms, which he 
knew would be misunderstood by the greatest part 
of Christendom; or to suppose that he should insti- 
tute the chief of all his sacraments, under such a 
form of words, which in their plain, natural and 
obvious meaning, imply a thing so widely different 
from what he gives us therein, as his own body is 
from a bit of bread ; or, in fine, to believe that he 
would make his last will and testament, in words af- 
fectedly ambiguous and obscure; which, if taken ac- 
cording to that sense which they seem evidently to 
express, must lead his children into a pernicious er- 
ror concerning the legacy that he bequeaths them. 
In effect, our Lord certainly foresaw that his 
words would be taken according to the letter by 
the bulk of all Christendom; that innumerable of 
the most learned and most holy would understand 
them so; that the Church even in her general 
councils would interpret his words in this sense. 



60 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

It must be then contrary to all probability that he 
who foresaw all this would affect to express him- 
self in this manner, in his last will and testament, 
had he not meant what he said, or that he should 
not have some where explained himself in a more 
clear way, to prevent the dreadful consequence of 
his whole Church's authorising an error in a mat- 
ter of so great importance. 

Q. Have you any other reason to offer for tak- 
ing the words of the institution according to the 
letter, rather than in a figurative sense? 

A, Yes, we have for so doing, as I have just 
now hinted, the authority of the best and most 
authentic interpreter of God's words, viz. his holy 
Church; which has always understood these words 
of Christ in their plain literal sense, and condemn- 
ed all those that have presumed to wrest them to 
a figure. 'Witness the many synods held against 
Berengarius; and the decrees of the general councils 
of, Lateran, Constance, and Trent. Now against 
this authority HelPs gates shall never prevail, St. 
Matt. xvi. 18. And with this interpreter Christ 
hast promised, that both he himself and the Holy 
Ghost, the Spirit of truth, should abide for ever, 
St. Matt, xxviii. 20. and St. John xiv. 16, 17. 

Q. But are not many of Christ's sayings to be 
understood figuratively, as when he says, that he 
is a door, a vine, &c.? And why then may not 
also the words of the institution of the blessed 
sacrament be understood figuratively? 

A. It is a very bad argument to pret^d to infer 
that because some of Christ's words are to be taken 
figurately, therefore all are to be taken so: that 
because in his parables or similitudes hisL. words are 
not to be taken according to the letter, therefore 
we are to wrest to a figurative sense, the words of 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 61 

the institution of his solemn covenant, law, sacra- 
ment, and testament, at his last supper: that be- 
cause he has called himself a door, or a vine, in 
circumstances in which he neither was, nor ever 
could be misunderstood by any one, (he having 
taken so much care in the same places to explain 
his own meaning) therefore he would call bread and 
wine his body and blood, in circumstances, in which 
it was natural to understand his words according 
to the letter, as he foresaw all Christendom would 
understand them, and yet has taken no care to 
prevent this interpretation of them. 

There is therefore a manifold disparity betweeu 
the case of the expressions you mention, viz. I am 
the door, the vine, &c. and the words of the last 
supper, ' this is my body, this is my blood.' First, 
because the former are delivered as parables and 
similitudes, and consequently as figures; the latter 
are the words of a covenant, sacrament, and testa- 
ment, and therefore are to be understood accord- 
ing to their most plain and obvious meaning. 
Secondly, because the former are explained by 
Christ himself in the same places in a figurative 
sense, the latter are not. Thirdly, because the 
former are worded in such a manner, as to carry 
with them the evidence of a figure, so that no man 
alive can possibly misunderstand them, or take 
them in any other than a figurative meaning; the 
latter are so expressed, and so evidently imply the 
literal sense, that they that have been the most 
desirous tp find a figure in them have been puzzled 
to do it;"^ and all Christendom has for many ages 

* It was the case of Luther himself, as we learn from 
his epistle to his friends at Strasburg, torn. 5. fol. 502. nnd 
of Zuinglius, as we learn from his epistle to Pomeranus, 
fol. 256. 

6 



62 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

judged without the least scruple that they ought to 
be taken according to the letter. Fourthly, be- 
cause the Church of God has authorized the liieral 
interpretation of the words of the institution of the 
blessed sacrament: not so of those other expres- 
sions. In fine, because according to the common 
laws and customs of speech a thing may indeed, 
by an elegant figure, be called by the name of that 
thing of which it has the qualities or properties; 
and thus Christ, by having in himself the property 
of a door, inasmuch as it is by him that we must 
enter into his sheepfold, St. John x. 9. and the pro-, 
perty of the vine, in giving life and fruit to its 
branches, St. John xv. 1. might, according to the 
usual laws of speech, elegantly call himself a door 
and a vine; but it would be no elegant metaphor, 
to call bread and wine, without making any change 
in them, his body and blood; because bread and 
wine have in themselves neither any similitude, 
nor quality, nor property of Christ's body and 
blood; as it would be absurd, for the same reason, 
to point at any particular door or vine, and say, 
this is Jesus Christ. 

Q. But may not the sign or figure according to 
the common laws of speech, be called by the name 
of the thing signified? And have we not instances 
of this nature in scripture; as when Joseph, inter- 
preting the dream of Pharaoh, Gen. xli. 26. says, 
'the seven good kine are seven years?' and our 
Lord interpreting the parable of the sower, St. 
Luke viii. 11. says, 'the seed is the word of God;' 
jand St. Paul 1 Cor. x. 4. says, ' the rock was Christ?' 
^ A, In certain cases', when a thing is already 
known to be a sign or figure of something else, 
which it signifies or represents, it may indeed, 
according to the common laws of speech and the 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. C3 

use of the scripture, be said to be such or such a 
thing; as in the interpretation of dreams, parables, 
ancient figures, and upon such like occasions; 
where when a thing is said to be this or that, the 
meaning is evident, viz. that it signifies or repre- 
sents this or that. But it is not the same in the 
first institution of a sign or figure; because, when 
a thing is not known beforehand to be a sign or 
representation of some other thing, to call it ab- 
ruptly by a foreign name would be contrary to all 
laws of speech, and both absurd and unintelligible. 
As for instance, if a person by an art of memory 
had appointed within himself, that an oak tree 
should be a sign or memorandum of Alexander the 
Great, and pointing to the tree, should gravely 
tell his friends, (who were not acquainted with 
his design) this is that hero that overcome Darius, 
such a proposition as this would justly be censured 
as nonsensical and unworthy of a wise man; be- 
cause such a figure of speech would be contrary 
to all laws of speech, and unintelligible. Just so 
would it have been, if our Saviour, at his last sup- 
per, without giving his disciples any warning be- 
forehand, any meaning to speak figuratively, and 
without their considering beforehand the bread and 
wine as signs and representations of any thing else, 
should have abruptly told them, 'This is my body, 
this is my blood,' had he not meant that they were 
BO indeed. For abstracting from the change which 
Christ was pleased to make in the elements by his 
Almighty word, a bit of bread has no more simili- 
tude to the body of Christ than an oak tree has to 
Alexander the Great. So that nothing but the real 
presence of Christ's body and blood could verify 
his words at his last supper, or vindicate them from 
being highly absurd and unworthy the Son of God. 



64 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. But do not those words which our Lord spoke, 
St. Luke xxii. 19. ^this do in remembrance of me,' 
sufficiently clear up the difficulty, and determine 
his other words to a figurative sense? 

A. These words, 'Do in remembrance of me,' 
inform us indeed of the end for which we are to 
offer up, and to receive the body and blood of 
Christ, viz. for a perpetual commemoration of his 
death, 1 Cor. xi. 26. but they no way interfere 
with these other words, 'This is my body, and 
this is my blood,' so as to explain away the real 
presence of Christ's body and blood. For why 
should Christ's body and blood be less present in 
the sacrament, because we are commanded in the 
receiving of them to remember his death? certainly 
St. Matthew and St. Mark, who in ;their gospels 
have quite omitted those words, 'Do this in re- 
membrance of me,' never looked upon them as a 
necessaiy explication of the words of the institu- 
tion, or as any ways altering or qualifying the 
natural and obvious meaning of these words, 'this 
is my body.' 

Q. But does not the remembrance of a thing 
suppose it to be absent: for otherwise, why should 
we be commanded to remember it? 

A, Whatsoever things we may be liable to for- 
get, whether really present or really absent, may 
be the object of our remembrance,- and thus we are 
commanded in scripture to remember God, Duet, 
viii. 18. Eccles. xii. 1, though in him we live, 
move and have our being, Acts xviii. 28. So that 
this command of remembering Christ is no ways 
opposite to his real presence: but the most that 
can be inferred from it is, that he is not visibly 
present; which is very true, and therefore, lest we 
should forget him, this remembrance is enjoined. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 65 

Besides, if we hearken to the Apostle, 1 Cor. xi. 
26, he will inform us that what we are commanded 
to remember is the death of Cnrist; now, the death 
of Christ is not a thing really present, but really 
past, and therefore a most proper subject for our 
remembrance. 



SECTION II. 

THE SECOND PROOF OF THE KEAL PRESENCE FROM 
ST. JOHN VI. 51, ETC. 

Q. What other proof have you for the real pre- 
sence of Christ's body and blood in the sacrament 
of the eucharist, besides the words of the institu- 
tion, this is my body, and this is my blood? 

A. We have a very strong proof in the words 
of Christ, spoken to the Jews in the sixth chapter 
of St. John; where, upon occasion of the miracle 
of feeding the multitude with five loaves, having 
spoken of the necessity of believing in him who 
is the living bread that came down from heaven, 
he passes, from this discourse concerning faith, 
to speak of this sacrament, ver. 51, &c. '1 am the 
living bread that came down from heaven: if any 
man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever, and 
the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will 
give for the life of the world.' The Jews there- 
fore strove among themselves, saying, how can 
this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus 
said unto them, 'verily, verily, I say unto you, 
except ye eat of the flesh of the son of man, and 
drink his blood, you shall not have life, in you. 
Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood 
hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the 
last day; for my flesh is meat indeed, and my 

6* 



66 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh 
and drinketh my blood, dvvelleth in me, and I in 
him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I 
live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he 
shall live by me. This is that bread which came 
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat 
manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread 
shall live for ever.' In which words the eating 
of Christ's flesh, and the drinkmg his blood, is so 
strongly, so clearly, and so frequently inculcated; 
tind we are so plainly told, that the bread which 
Christ was to give, is that very flesh which he 
gave for the life of the world, that one must be 
resolved to keep one's eyes shut against the light, 
if one will not see so plain a truth. 

Q. How do you prove that Christ in this is 
speaking of the blessed sacrament? 

A, By comparing the words which he spoke 
upon this occasion with those which he delivered 
at his last supper in the institution of the blessed 
sacrament: in the one place he says, Uhe bread 
that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for 
the life of the world,' in the other, taking bread 
and distributing it, he says, ' this is my body which 
is given for you.' Where it is visible that the one 
is a promise which the other fulfils; and conse- 
quently that both the one and the other have rela- 
tion to the same sacrament. Hence we find, that 
the current of the holy fathers has always ex- 
plained those words of the sixth chapter of St. John, 
as spoken of the sacrament. See St. Irenaeus L. 4. 
c. 34; Origen Hom. 16. upon Numbers; St. Cyprian 
upon the Lord's Prayer; St. Hilary, in his 8th 
Book of the Trinity; St. Basil, his Moral Rules, 
Reg. 1, c. 1; St. Cyril, of Jerusalem, Catech. Mys- 
tag. 4; St. Ambrose, of the Mysteries, c. 8; St. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 67 

John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and St. Cyril, of 
Alexandria, writing upon the sixth chapter of St. 
John; St. Epiphanius Haeresi 55; Theoderet L. 4. 
Hist. Eccles. c. xi, &c. 

Q. But does not Christ promise eternal life, St. 
John vi. 51, 54, and 58, to every one that eateth 
of that bread of which he is there speaking; which 
promise cannot be understood with relation to the 
sacrament, which many receive to their own con- 
demnation, 1 Cor. xi. 29? 

A. He promises eternal life to every one that 
eateth of that bread; but this is to be understood, 
provided that he eat it worthily, and that he per- 
severe in the grace which he thereby receives. 
And in this sense it is certain that this sacrament 
gives eternal life: whereas, the manna of old had 
no such power, ver. 54. In like manner our Lord 
promises, St. Matt. vii. 7, 8. 'that every one that 
asketh shall receive:' and yet many ask and re- 
ceive not, because they asketh not as they ought. 
St. James iv. 3, Thus St. Paul tells us, Rom. x. 
13, 'that whosoever shall call upon the name 
of the Lord shall be saved:' which also cer- 
tainly must be understood, provided they do it 
worthily and perseverently; lest this text contra- 
dict that other, St. Matt. vii. 21, 'Not every one 
thaj; saith to me. Lord! Lord! shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will 
of my Father who is in heaven.' Thus, in fine, 
Christ tells us St. Mark xvi. 16. 'He that believeth 
and is baptized shall be saved.' And yet many 
believe and are baptized, like Simon Magus, Acts 
viii. 13. 'who for want of a true change of heart, 
or of perseverance in good, are never saved.' 

Q. But if those words of Christ, St. John vi. 52, 
53, &c. be understood of the sacrament, will it not 



68 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN XNSTRUOTED. 

follow that no one can be saved without receiving 
this Sacrament, and that also in both kinds; con- 
trary to the belief and practice of the Catholic 
Church, since our Lord tells us, verse 63, 'verily, 
verily, I say unto you, except you eat of the flesh 
of the son of man, and drink his blood, you have 
not (or you shall not have) life in you?' 

A, It follows from those words that there is a 
divine precept for the receiving this blessed sacra- 
nient, which if persons wilfully neglect, they can- 
not be saved. So that the receiving this sacrament 
either actually, or in desire, is necessary for all 
those that are come to the years of discretion, (not 
for infants, who are not capable of discerning the 
body of the Lord, 1 Cor. xi. 29.) But that this 
sacrament should be received by all in both kinds, 
is not a divine precept, nor ever was understood 
to be such by the Church of God, which always 
believed that under either kind Christ is received 
whole and entire, and that consequently under 
either kind we sufficiently comply with the precept 
of receiving his flesh and blood. 

Q. Why may not these words of Christ, St. 
John vi. 61, 62, 63, &c. be taken figuratively, so 
as to mean no more than the believing in his in- 
carnation and death? 

A, Because it would be too harsh a figures of 
speech, and unbecoming the wisdom of the Son of 
God, to express the believing in him by such 
strange metaphors as eating his flesh, and drinking 
his blood, such as no man ever used before or 
since; and to repeat and inculcate these expres 
sions, so often to the great offence both of the Jews} 
and even of his own disciples, who upon this ac- 
count went back and walked no more with him, 
ver. 60, and Q^. when he might so easily have 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED, 69 

satisfied both the one and the other, by telling 
them that he meant no more by all that discourse, 
than that they should believe in him. 

Q. Did then the Jews and those disciples who 
cried out, ver. 60, ' This is a hard saying, smd who 
can hear it?' understand our Saviour right, or did 
they mistake his meaning? 

A. They understood him right, so far, as relates 
to the real receiving his flesh and blood; but as to 
the maimer of receiving they understood him not; 
since they had no thoughts of his giving himself 
whole and entire, veiled in a sacrament, but appre- 
hended the eating of his flesh, cut off from his 
bones, and drinking of his blood, according to the 
vulgar manner of other meat and drink, which we 
digest and consume. However their not under- 
standing him seems not to have been so faulty, as 
their refusing to believe him: hence our Lord, 
reprehends not their want of understanding, but 
their not believing, ver. 64. And Peter, in the 
name of the Apostles, ver. 68, 69. in opposition to 
those disciples that had fallen oflT, says, 'Lord! to 
whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal 
life. And we believe and are sure that thou art 
Christ the Son of the living God.' So that these 
ought, like the Apostles, to have submitted them- 
selves to believe what as yet they understood not; 
and not to have run away from him, who by his 
evident miracles proved himself to be the Son of 
God, and consequently incapable of an untruth. 
By which example, we may see how much more 
wisely Catholics act (who in this mystery, like the 
Apostles, submit themselves to believe what they 
cannot comprehend, because they know that Christ 
has the words of eternal life) than those who like 
(he apostate disciples cry out, ' This is a hard say- 



70 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTEI>. 

ing and who can hear it?' and thereupon will walk 
no more with Christ and his Church. 

Q. What did our Lord say to his disciples, who 
were offended with his discourse concerning the 
eating of his flesh? 

A, He said unto them, ver. 61, 62. ^Doth this 
offend you? what, and if ye shall see the Son of 
man ascend up where he was before:' which words 
are variously interpreted, and may either be un- 
derstood to signify, that they who made a difficulty 
of believing that he could give them his flesh to 
eat, then whilst he was visible amongst them, 
would have much more difficulty of believing it 
after he was gone from them by his ascension: or 
else Christ, by mentioning his ascension, would 
correct their mistaken notion of giving them his 
flesh and blood, in that gross manner which they 
apprehended : or, in fine, he rr^ntioned his ascen- 
sion into heaven, to convince their incredulity, by 
the evidence of so great a miracle, which at once 
was to demonstrate both his Almighty power and 
the truth of his words. 

Q. What is the meaning of the following words, 
ver. 63. 'It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh 
profiteth nothing: the words that 1 speak unto you, 
they are spirit and they are life.' 

A. The meaning is, that the flesh separated 
from the spirit, in the manner which the Jews and 
incredulous disciples apprehended, would profit no- 
thing: for what would it avail us to feed upon dead 
flesh, separated from the soul and divinity, and 
consequently from the lifcgiving spirit? But then 
it would be blasphemy to say that the flesh oi 
Christ, united to his spirit (in that manner in 
which the Catholic Church believes his flesh to be 
in the blessed sacrament accompanied with his 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 71 

soul and divinity) profits nothing: for if the flesh 
of Christ were of no profit, he would never have 
taken flesh for us, and his incarnation and death 
would be unprofitable to us: which is the height 
of blasphemy to affirm. 

What means the flesh profits nothing? says St, 
Augustine, writing upon this text, Tract. 27. in 
Joan. It profits nothing, as they understood it; 
for they understood flesh as it is torn in pieces in a 
dead body, or sold in the shambles ; and not as it is 
animated by the spirit. Wherefore it is said, the 
flesh profits nothing, in the samo manner as it is 
said, * knowledge puffeth up.' 1 Cor. viii. 1. Must 
we then fly from knowiedge? Grod forbid: what 
then means knowledge puffeth? That is, if it be 
alone without charity,- therefore the Apostle added, 
but charity edifieth. Join therefore charity to 
knowledge, and knowledge will be profitable not 
by itself, but through charity: so here also the 
flesh profiteth nothing, viz. the flesh alone: let the 
spirit be joined with the flesh, as charity is to be 
joined with knowledge, and then it profits much. 
For 'd the flesh profiteth nothing, the W^ord would 
not have been made flesh, that he might dwell in 
us. So far St. Augustine. 

Besides, according to the usual phrase of scrip- 
ture, flesh and blood are often taken for the cor- 
ruption of our nature, as for man's natural sense 
and apprehension, &;c. As when it is said, 1 Cor. 
XV. 50. ' That flesh and blood cannot inherit the| 
kingdom of God.' And St. Matt. xvi. 17. 'flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, &c.' 
•And in this sense the flesh profiteth nothing, but it 
is the spirit and grace of God that quickeneth and 
giveth life to our souls. And as the words which 
our Lord had spoken to them tended to insinuate 



72 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN IIfSTKirCTEI>, 

to them so great a sacrament in which they should 
receive this spirit, grace and life in its very foun- 
tain ; therefore he tells them, the words that I 
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 



SECTION III. 

OTHER PrOOFS OF THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST's 
BODY AND BLOOD IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. 

Q. Have you any other proofs from scripture 
of the real presence of the body and blood of 
Christ in the blessed sacrament ? 

A. Yes, 1 Cor. x. where the Apostle, to dis- 
courage christians from having any thing to do 
with the sacrifices offered to idols, tells them, ver. 
16. ^That the cup of blessing, which we bless, is 
the communion of the blood of Christ, and the 
bread which we break, is the communion of the 
body of Christ.' 

Secondly, 1 Cor. xi. 27. ^ Wherefore whosoever 
shall eat this bread, or drink this cup of the Lord 
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood 
of the Lord.' How so, if what the unworthy re- 
ceiver takes be no more than bread and wine? 

Thirdly, 1 Cor. xi. 29. 'He that eateth and 
drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damna- 
tion to himself, not discerning the body of tlie 
Lord.' How shall he discern it, if it be not there 
really present? 

Q. Have you any thing more to add by way of 
proof out of Scripture? 

A. Yes, from the ancient figures of the Euch 
arist, which demonstrate that there is something 
more noble in it than bread and wine, taken only 
in remembrance of Christ. 



CATH^IC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 78 

Q. What are those ancient figures? 

A. There are many; but I shall take notice 
chiefly of three, viz. The paschal lamb, the blood 
of the testament, and the manna from heaven. 

Q. How do you prove that these three were 
figures of the Eucharist? 

A, I prove it with regard to the paschal lamb, 
(which is acknowledged at all hands to have been 
a type of Christ) because it is visible, that the rites 
and ceremonies of it, prescribed Exodus xii. had 
chiefly relation to eating of it; and consequently to 
this typical lamb in the Old Testament, corres- 
ponds in the New Testament the lamb of God, as 
eaten by his people in this sacrament: which for 
this reason was instituted immediately after our 
Lord had eat the passover with his disciples, that 
the figure might be both explained and accomplish- 
ed, and might make way for the truth. See con- 
cerning this figure the current sense of the fathers 
in Tertuliian, L. 4, in Marcionem; St. Cyprian, L. 
de unitate Ecclesise; St. Hierome in c. 26. St. Mat- 
thsei; Chrysostom, Homil. de Proditione Judse; St. 
Augustine, L. 2. contra Literas Petiliani, c. 37; St. 
Gaudentius, Tract. 2. in Exod. St. Cyril of Alexan- 
dria, contra Nestor, p. 112; Theodoret in 1 Cor. xi; 
St. Leo Serm. 7. de Passione Domini; Hesychius in 
c. 23. Levit. St. Gregory Horn. 22, in Evang. 

Secondly, that the blood of the testament with 
which Moses sprinkled the people, Exod. xxlv. and 
Heb. ix. saying, ' This is the blood of the testament 
which God hath enjoined to you,' was a figure of 
the blood of Christ in this sac^-ament, our Lord 
himself sufficiently declared, by evidently alluding 
to this figure, when he gave the cup to his dis- 
ciples, saying, 'This is my blood of the New Tes- 
tament,' St. Matt. xxvi. 28. St. Mark xiv. 24, or, 

7 



74 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

'This cup is the New Testament in my blood.' 
St. Luke xxii. 20. 1 Cor. xi. 25. 

Thirdly, that the manna was a figure of this 
sacrament, appears from St. John vi. 58. 'Your 
fathers did eat manna and are dead, he that eateth 
of this bread shall live for ever.' And i'rom 1 Cor. 
X. where the Apostle speaking of the figures of 
our sacraments in the old law, and taking notice 
of the cloud, and the passage of the Red Sea, as 
figures of baptism, ver. 1. and 2., in the 3d and 4th 
verses, gives the manna and the water from the 
rock as figures of the Eucharist. The same is the 
current doctrine of the holy fathers, and is suffi- 
ciently demonstrated from the analogy which is 
found between the manna and this blessed sacra- 
ment. For which see the annotations, in the Do- 
way Bible, upon the XVI chapter of Exodus. 

Q. How do you prove from these ancient figures 
the real presence of Christ's body and blood in this 
sacrament? 

A. Because if in this sacrament there were no- 
thing more than bread and wine, taken in remem- 
brance of Christ, and as types and figures of his 
body and blood, then would the figures of the old 
law equal the sacraments of the new law, yea, far 
excel them. For who does not see that the paschal 
lamb was a more noble type, and far better repre- 
senting Christ than bread and wine? who does not 
perceive that the blood of victims solemnly sacri- 
ficed to God was a better figure of Christ's blood 
than the juice of the grape? Who can question 
but the heavenly manna, which is called the bread 
of angels, and was so many ways miraculous, was 
far beyond the bread of men? Who will not 
acknowledge that it is something more excellent 
and divine to foretell things to come, than only to 



CATHOi^IC gHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 75 

commemorate things past: it must therefore be 
visible to every Christian, that if the paschal lamb, 
the blood of the testament, and the manna were 
types of Christ, given to us in this sacrament; that 
this sacrament itself must be something more than 
a type, figure or remembrance of Christ; and con- 
sequently must contain and exhibit him really to us. 

Q. But why may not a person suppose that the 
figures of the Old Testament might equal or excel 
the sacrament of the new? 

A. No one that pretends to the name of Chris- 
tian can suppose this: since the Apostle assures 
us that the old law had nothing but ' a shadow of 
the things to come;' Heb. x. 1. that all its sacrifices 
and sacraments were but ' weak and beggarly ele- 
ments,' Gal. iv. 9. and that it was annulled by rea- 
son of 'the weakness and unprofitableness thereof,' 
Heb. vii. 18. And does not the very nature of the 
things assure us, that the figure must be inferior 
to the things prefigured? 

Q. Have you any other argument from scrip- 
ture in favour of the real presence of our Lord's 
body in the blessed sacrament? 

A. Yes. Those innumerable texts of scripture, 
which prove the unerring authority of the Church 
of Christ, and the indispensable obligation of the 
faithful to follow the judgment of the church, and 
to rest in her decisions, plainly demonstrate that to 
be truth which the church has so long ago declared 
with relation to this controversy; and that all 
Christians are obliged to yield to this decision. 

Q. When did the church decide this matter? 

-4. As soon as ever it was called in question, that 
is about seven hundred years ago, in the days of 
Berengarius, who was the first that openly attacked 
the doctrine of the real presence, and was there- 



76 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRXJCTED. 

apon condemned by the whole church, in no less 
than fourteen councils held during his life-time 
in divers parts of Christendom; and the deter- 
mination of these councils was afterwards con- 
firmed by the general councils of Lateran, Con- 
stance and Trent. 

Q, What scripture do you bring to show that all 
christians are obliged to submit to these decisions 
of the councils and pastors of the church? 

A, St. Matt, xviii. 17. 'If he neglect to hear the 
church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a pub- 
lican.' St. Luke X. 16. 'He that heareth you hear- 
eth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me, 
and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent 
me.' St. John xx. 21. 'As my Father hath sent 
me, even so I send you.' Heb. xii. 7. 'Remember 
them which have the rule over you, who have 
spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith fol- 
low, ver. 17. 'Obey them that have the rule over 
you, submit yourselves.' St. John iv. 6. ' He that 
knoweth God heareth us, (the pastors of the church) 
he that is not of God heareth not us! by this we 
know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.' 
And what wonder that Christ shouM require this 
submission to his church, and her pastors, and 
teachers, whom he has given for the perfecting of 
the saints, &c. that we henceforth be no more 
children tossed to and fro, and carried about with 
every wind of doctrine. — Since even in the old 
law, he required under pain of death, a submission 
to the Synagogue and her ministers, in their deci- 
sions relating to the controversies of the law; as 
may be seen, Deut. xvii. 8, 9, &c. 

Q. What scripture do you bring to show that 
the church is not liable to be mistaken in these 
decisions? 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 77 

A. This is evidently proved from a great many- 
texts both of the Old and New Testaments: in 
which we are assured, first, ' that the church is the 
pillar and ground of the truth,' and consequently 
not liable to error, 1 Tim. iii. 15. Secondly, ' that 
Christ has built his church upon a rock, and that 
the gates of hell (the powers of darkness and error) 
shall not prevail against her, St. Matt. xvi. 18. 
Thirdly, that Christ (who is 'the way, the truth, 
and the life,' St. John xvi. 6.) 'will always be 
with the teachers of his church, even to the end 
of the world,' St. Matt, xxviii. 20. Fourthly, that 
the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, shall abide 
for ever with these same teachers of the church,' 
St. John xvi. 16, 17. 'and guide them into all 
truth,' c. xvi. 13. Fifthly, 'that God has made a 
covenant with the church, that his Spirit, and his 
words, which he has put in her mouth at the time 
when our Redeemer came, should not depart out 
of her mouth, nor out of the mouth of her seed, 
nor out of the mouth of her seed's seed, from 
henceforth and for ever,' Isaiah lix. 20, 21. Sixth- 
ly, that God has made a solemn oath to his 
church, like that which he made to Noah, that he 
would not be wroth with her, nor rebuke her,' 
Isaiah liv. 9, 10. 'that he has promised to be her 
everlasting light, Isaiah Ix. 18, 19, &c.' 'and to set 
his sanctuary in the midst of her for evermore,' 
Ezek. xxxvii. 26. and which is inconsistent with 
her being led astray by damnable errors,- and thus 
the scripture, by plainly giving testimony to the 
church and church authority, plainly also gives 
testimony to the truth of Christ's real presence in 
the Eucharist, which has been so often declared by 
that authority. 

Q. Besides these arguments from scripture and 
7* 



78 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

church authority, have you any thing else to al- 
ledge in proof of the real presence? 

A, First, the authority of all the ancient fathers, 
whose plain testimonies may be seen in an appen- 
dix to a book entitled, a specimen of the spirit of 
dissenting teachers, &c. anno 1736. 

Secondly, the perpetual consent of the Greeks, 
and all the oriental christians, demonstrated by 
Monsieur Arnauld and the Abbe Renaudot in their 
books bearing title, 'la perpetuite de la foi^ &c. 
confirmed by the authentic testimonies* of their 

* See the testimony of seven archbishops of the Greek 
church, Perpetuite^ vol. iii. p. 569. the testinionies of the 
archbishops and clergy of the isles of the Archipelago, &c. 
of dive.rs abbots and religions, chap. iv. and v. of four 
patriarchs of Constantinople, of the patriarch of Alexan- 
dria, and of thirty-five metropolitans or archbishops, anno 
1762. chap. vi. p. 623. of the churches of Georgia and Min- 
grelia, chap. vii. p. 634. of the patriarch of Jerusalem, and 
of several other archbishops, abbots, &c. p. 703. Of Ma- 
carius and Neophytus patriarchs of Antioch, p. 723, &c. 
of Mecroditus, patriarch of Constantinople, Responst ge- 
nerale^ p. 151. See also the orthodox confession of the 
oriental church, signed by the four patriarchs and many 
other bishops, ibidem, p. 138. That the same is the faith 
of the Armenians, is proved by the testimonies of Havia- 
:dour, an Armenian prelate, of Uscanus, bishop of St. Ser- 
jgius; also of David, the patriarch, and other bishops and 
-priests of the Armenians given at Aleppo, anno 1668. In 
the appendix to the first volume of the Perpetidte\ p. 78, 
-81, 82. Of James patriarch, of the greater Armenia, and 
and other bishops and priests. Response gcnerale, L. I. 
chap, xviii. Of the archbishops of the Armenians in Con- 
Btantinople, Adrianople and Amasaea, ibid. Of Crucia- 
dorus, patriarch of the lesser Armenia, with other bishops 
and priests, anno, 672. tom. 3. Perpetuite, p. 774. Of the 
Armenians of grand Cairo, anno, 1678. And of several 
bishops, at Ispahan, the same year, ibid. p. 775 and 778. 
See also in the first and third volume of the Perpetuite 
and in the Response generalc, many other attestations of 
the belief of the. Moscovites, Jacobites or Surians Cophts, 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 79 

patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots, &c. by the 
decrees of their synods,* against Cyril Lucar, by 
the writings of their ancient t and modern divines; 
and by all their liturgies: and cicknowiedged by 
-many t Protestant witnesses. Now what can be a 



Maronites, and Nestorians, touching the real presence and 
transubstantiation. 

* See the acts of the synod of Constantinople under the 
patriarch Cyril, of Beraea, anno, 1639. And of the synod 
under the patriarch, Parthenius, anno, 1642. And of the 
synod of Cyprus, anno, 1668. 

t See (besides the testimonies of the Greek fathers of 
the first six centuries) Anastasius, of Sina, in his Odegos, 
Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople in his Theoria, St. 
John Damascene Orat. 3. de Imaginibus, Lib. 2. Parallel. 
c. 5. L. 4. Fidei Orthodoxae, c. 13. The second Council 
of Nice, of 350 bishops. Act 6. Elias Crer. Comment, in 
Orat. I. St. Greg. Naz. Niccephorus, Patriarch of Constan- 
tinople, Antiheretico 2. Theodorius Stuites, Antiheretic 1. 
Num. 10. Theophylactus ad Cap. 26. Samonus, Bishop of 
Gaza, in Discep. contra Achmet Saracenum, Nicholas of 
Methone. de Corp. and Sang. Christi. Nicholas Cabafilas. 
Mark of Ephesus and BefFarion ; qui omnes in suis optisculis^ 
says Bishop Forbes de Euch. L. 1. c. 3. aperlissime iransub- 
siarUialio7iem confitentur. Jeremias, Patriarcho in Resp. 1 
and 2. ad Lutheranos. Gabriel Philadelph. de Sacrament. 
The Greeks of Venice, in Resp. ad Cardinal. Guis. Agapius, 
&c. See also in the additional volumes of Renaudot to the 
Perpetuite de la Foi, &c. the concurrent testimonies of the 
divines of the other oriental sects, and of all their liturgies. 

J Sir Edwin Sandy's relation of the Religions of the 
West, p. 233. Dr. Potter's Answer to Charity mistaken, p. 
225. Bishop Forbes de Euch. L. 1. c. 3. p. 412. Crufius 
in Germanio-graecia. L. 5. p. 226. Danawerus, L. de Ec- 
cles. Grasc. hodierna, p. 46, &c. Hence Dr. Philip Nicho- 
las a Protestant, in his first book of the Kingdom of Christ, 
p. 22. writeth thus: *' Let my christian readers be assured, 
that not only the churches of the Greeks, but also the 
Russians, and the Georgians, and the Armenians, and the 
Indians, and the Ethiopians, as many of them as believe 
in Christ, hold the true and real presence of the body and 
blood of the Lord, &c." 



80 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

more convincing evidence of this doctrine's having 
been handed down by tradition from the Apostles, 
than to see all sorts of Christians, which have any 
pretensions to aniiquity, all agreeing in it? 

Thirdly, both ancient and modern church history 
furnish us with many instances of miracles the 
best attested, which from time to time have been 
wrought in testimony of thQ same truth: of which 
in divers parts of Christendom there are standing 
monuments to this day. It would be too tedious to 
descend to particulars, and so much the less neces- 
sary, because all the miracles of Jesus Christ him- 
self, as they prove that he could not be a liar, so 
they demonstrate, that what he gives us in this 
sacrament, is verily and indeed his body and blood, 
as he has so clearly told us. 



SECTION IV. 

TRANSUBSTANTIATION PROVED. OBJECTIONS AN- 
SWERED. 

Q. What do you understand by transubstan- 
tiation ? 

A. That the bread and wine in the blessed sa- 
crament are truly, really, and substantially, chang- 
ed by consecration into the body and blood of 
Christ. 

Q. In what then does the catholic doctrine of 
transubstantiation differ from the consubstantiation 
maintained by the Lutherans? 

A. It differs in this, that Luther and his follow 
ers maintain the real presence of the body aiA 
blood of Christ in the bread and wine, or with the 
bread and wine: whereas the catholic church be- 
lieves that the bread and wine are converted into 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 81 

the body and blood of Christ, so that there remains 
nothing of the inward substance of the bread and 
wine after consecration, but outward appearances 
or accidents. 

Q. How do you prove this transubstantiation? 

A. First, from the texts of scripture above quot- 
ed, especially from the words of institution, St. 
Matt. xxvi. 26, &;c. and from the words of Christ, 
St. John vi. 51, &c. for our Lord, when he first 
gave the blessed sacrament, did not say, 'In this, 
or with this, is mj body and blood;' but he said, 
*This is my body, and this is my blood.' Neither 
did he say, St. John vi. 51. 'In the bread that I 
will give, will I give you my flesh, &;c.' but he 
said, 'The bread that I will give is my flesh, 
which I will give for the life of the world.' 

Secondly, from the tradition of the ancient fa- 
thers, whose doctrine may be seen in the books 
above quoted. 

Thirdly, from the authority and decision of the 
church of God in her general councils of Lateran, 
Constance and Trent. 

And indeed supposing that the words of Christ, 
in the institution of the blessed sacrament are to 
be taken according to the letter, as both Catholic: 
and Lutherans agree, the most learned Protestants 
have often urged against Luther and his followers, 
that the catholic transubstantiation is more agree- 
able to the letter of Christ's words, than the Luth- 
eran consubstantiation. See the bishop of Meaiix's 
Histoire des Variations, L. 2, Num. 31, 32, 33. 

Q. But does not St. Paul, 1 Corinth, x. and xi 
speaking of the sacrament after consecration, call 
it bread? 

A. He does; and so do we, first, because it is the 
bread of life, the food and nourishment of the soul: 



82 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Secondly, because it still retains the qualities and 
accidents of bread: and has the whole outward 
appearance of bread: and therefore, according to 
the scripture-phrase is called bread, as angels in 
the shape of men, are oftentimes in scripture 
called men. See St. Luke xxvi. 4. Acts i. 10, &c. 
Thirdly, because it was consecrated from bread, 
and therefore, according to the method of speaking 
usual in scripture, is called bread, because it was 
made from bread; as man is called dust. Gen. iii. 
19. because made out of dust; and the serpent is 
called a rod, Exod. vii. 12. because made from 
a rod, &c. 

Besides, we have two very good interpreters, 
that inform us what this bread is, of which St. Paul 
is there speaking, viz. the same Apostle when he 
tells us, 1 Cor. v. 16. that 'the bread which we 
break is the communion of the body of Christ;' and 
our Saviour himself, when he tells us, St. John vi. 
61. 'The bread that I will give is my flesh, which 
I will give for the life of the world.' 

Q. But what will you say to our Saviour's 
calling the sacrament the fruit of the vine, St. 
Matt. xxvi. 29? 

A. If it were certain our Saviour had so called 
the consecrated wine of the blessed sacrament, it 
would prove no more than St. Paul's calling the 
other kind bread; that is, it would only show that 
the name of wine, or the fruit of the vine, might 
be given to it, from having the accidents and ap- 
pearances of wine, and having been consecrated 
from wine. But there is all the reason in the 
world to think, that this appellation of the fruit 
of the vine was given by our Saviour, not to the 
consecrated cup or chalice, but to the wine of the 
paschal supper, which they drank before the insti- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 83 

tution of the sacrament, this appears evident from 
St. Luke, who thus relates the whole manner, 
chap. xxii. 

Ver. 14. ' When the hour was come he sat down 
and the twelve Apostles with him.' 

15. 'And he said unto tljem, with desire I have 
desired to eat this passover with you before I 
suffer.' 

16. ' For I say unto you, I will not any more eat 
thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God:' 

17. 'And he took the cup and gave thanks, and 
gaid, take this and divide it amongst yourselves.' 

18. 'For I say unto you, I will not drink of the 
fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall 
come.' 

19. 'And he took bread and gave thanks and 
brake it, and gave unto them, saying, this is my 
body which is given for you: this do in remem- 
brance of me ? 

20. 'Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, 
this cup is the New Testament in my blood which 
is shed for you.' 

28. 'But behold the hand of him that betrayeth 
me is with me on the table, &;c.' 

Where it is visible, that it was not the sacra- 
mental cup, but that which was drunk with the 
passover, to which our Saviour gives the name of 
the fruit of the vine. 

Q. But if the bread and wine do not remain 
after consecration, what then becomes of them? 

A, They are changed by the consecration into 
the body and blood of Christ. 

Q. How can bread and wine be changed into 
the body and blood of Christ? 

A, By the Almighty power of God, to whom no- 
thing is hard or impossible, who formerly changed 



I 



II ^ 



84 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

water into blood, and a rod into a serpent, Exod. 
vii. and water into wine, St. John ii. and who daily 
changes bread and wine by digestion into our body 
and blood. 

Q. But do not all our senses bear testimony^ 
that the bread and win% still remain? 

A. No: they only bear testimony that there 
remain the colour and taste of bread and wine aa 
indeed there do : but as to the inward substance, 
that is not the object of any of the senses, nor can 
be perceived by any of them. 

Q. Are not our senses deceived in this case? 

A. Properly speaking they are not, because they 
truly represent what is truly there, viz. the colour, 
shape, taste, &c. of bread and wine. But it is the 
judgment is deceived when upon account of this 
colour, shape, taste, &c. it too hastily pronounces 
that this is bread and wine. 

Q. But are we not sufficiently authorized, by 
the testimony of the senses to make a judgment 
of a thing's being in effect, that which it has all 
the appearances of? 

A, Regularly speaking we are, when neither 
reason nor divine authority interposes itself, to 
oblige us to make another judgment. And thus 
the miracles and resurrection of Christ were de- 
monstrated to the Apostles by the testimony of 
their senses. But the case would have been alter- 
ed if God himself had assured them that what ap- 
peared to be flesh and bones, were indeed another 
thing: for in such a case they ought certainly to 
have believed the testimony of God, rather than 
their own senses. 

Q. Can you give me any instances in which 
the testimony of man's senses has represented one 
thing, and the divine authority of God's work has 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 85 

assured us, that it was not indeed what it appeared 
to be, but quite another thing? 

A, Yes, we have many such instances in scrip- 
ture; as when angels have appeared in the shape 
of men, Gen. xviii. St. Matt, xxviii. St. Mark xvi. 
&c. and the Holy Ghost, in' the shape of a dove, 
St. Luke iii. 22, &c. 

Q. Is there not then any of our senses that we 
may trust to, in relation to the judgment that we 
are to make concerning the inward part of the 
sacrament of the Eucharist? 

A, Yes, we may safely trust to the sense of 
hearing; which informs us by the word of God, 
and the authority of the church of God, that what 
appears to be bread and wine in this sacrament, 
is indeed the body and blood of Christ; now faith 
comes by hearing, saith St. Paul, Rom. x. 17. 
and hearing by the word of God. 

Q. But if the substance of the bread and wine 
be not there, what is It then that gives nourish- 
ment to our bodies when we receive the sacrament? 

A. This sacrament was not ordained for tho 
nourishment of the body, but of the soul: though 
I do not deny but the body also is nourished, when 
we receive the blessed eucharist, not by the sub- 
stance of bread and wine, which is not there, nor 
by the body and blood of Christ, which are incor- 
ruptible, and therefore cannot be digested for our 
corporal nourishment; but by the quantity and 
other accidents of the bread and wine (if with the 
Aristotelian philosophers you suppose them really 
distinguished from the matter and substance) or by 
another substance, which the Almighty substitutes, 
when by the ordinary course of digestion the sa- 
cramental species are changed, and the body and 
blood of Christ cease to be there. 

8 



86 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. But how can the accidents of bread and wine 
remain without the substance? 

A, By the almighty power of God: which an 
swer if it satisfy you not, I remit you to the Car- 
tesian philosophers, who will tell you, that as the 
body and blood of Christ, in the sacrament, are 
contained precisely in the same circumscription 
and dimensions as the bread and wine were before 
the consecration, it follows of course that they 
must affect our senses in the same manner* now 
colour, taste, &c. according to modern philosophy 
are nothing but the affections of our senses. See 
Purchot, Part 1. Phys. 2. Sect. 5. cap. 1. 

Q, How can the whole body and blood of Christ 
be contained in so small a space as that of the host; 
nay, even in the smallest sensible particle of it? 

A, By the same almighty power by which a 
camel can pass through the eye of a needle: with 
men that is impossible, says our Saviour, St. Matt, 
xix. 26. and St. Mark x. 27. 'but not with God, for 
with God all things are possible.' 

Q. How can the body of Christ be both in 
heavfen, and at the same time in so many places 
upon earth? 

A, By the same almighty power of God, which 
we profess in the very first article of our creed 
when we say, 'I believe in God the Father Al- 
mighty.' So that it is a question better becoming 
an infidel than a Christian to ask, ' How this can 
be?' when we are speaking of a God to whom no- 
thing is impossible; and who would not be God 
indeed, if he could not do infinitely more than we 
can conceive. It is like the Jewish question, St. 
John vi. 62. 'How can this man give us his flesh 
to eat?' As if the power of God were not as in- 
comprehensible as himself; and as if it were not 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 87 

worse than madness for weak mortals to pretend 
to fathom this immense depth of the power of the 
Almighty, by the short line and plummet of hu- 
man reason. 

Q. But is it not an evident contradiction for the 
same body to be at once in two places? 

A. Not at all; no more than for one God to sub- 
sist in three distinct persons; or one person in two 
natures; or one soul to be at once both in the head 
and in the heart, or two bodies to be at once in the 
self-same place? as when Christ's body came into 
the disciples, the doors being shut, St. John xx. 26. 
or the same body, after having returned to dust, to 
be many ages after restored at the resurrection. 

Q. How do you prove that there is no evident 
contradiction in any of these things? 

A. Because thousands of as good philosophers 
and divines as any are, cannot see any such con- 
tradiction; which is a plain demonstration there is 
no evidence in the case; and consequently, it would 
be the highest rashness to deny the possibility of 
these things, to the power of the Almighty. 

Q. But what need was there that Christ should 
leave us his real body and blood in this sacrament; 
since without this real presence he might have 
bequeathed the self-same graces to our souls? 

A, He might iiideed, if so he had pleased; as he 
might also have brought &bout the salvation of 
mankind, if he had so pleased, without becoming 
man himself and dying upon a cross for us: but he 
chose these wonderous ways as most suitable to 
his love, and most proper to excite us to love him. 
And who shall presume to call him to an account 
why lie has condescended so far? 

Q. But are not the body and blood of Christ 
liable to be hurt and abused in the .sacrament? 



8^ CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A, The body and blood of Christ are now immor- 
tal, impassible and incorruptible, and consequently 
not liable lo be hurt, nor divided, nor corrupted: 
though it may be said indeed, to be abused by the 
the unworthy communicant; and upon that account 
St. Paul, 1 Cor. xi. 27, says, that such a one is 
* guilty of the body and blood of Christ:' but this 
abuse no more hurts the immortal body of Christ, 
than this or any other crime can hurt or violate 
his divinity. 



SECTION V. 

OF THE BREAD AND WINE MADE USE OF IN THIS 

SACRAMENT. 

Q. What kind of bread does the Church make 
use of for the sacrament of the eucharist? 

A, The Church of Rome makes use of wafers 
of unleavened bread; that is, of bread made of fine 
wheaten flour, with no other mixture but pure 
water. 

Q. Why does not the Church make use of com- 
mon bread for this sacrament? 

A. Because she follows the example of Christ, 
who at his supper, when he first instituted and 
gave the blessed sacrament to his disciples, made 
use of unleavened bread. 

Q. How do you prove that? 

A. I prove it, because the day in which Christ 
first gave the blessed sacrament, was according to 
St. Matt. xxvi. 17. St. Mark xiv. 12, and St. Luke 
xxii. 7. 'the first day of unleavened bread. Now 
upon that day, and for the whole following week, 
there was no other bread to be found in Israel; and 
it was even death to use any other but unleavened 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 89 

bread, as we learn from Exod. xii. 15. 'Seven days 
shall ye eat unleavened bread, even the first day 
ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for 
whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first 
day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut 
off from Israel;' ver. 19. 'Seven days shall there 
be no leaven found in your, houses, &;c.' So that 
it is plain that our Saviour made use of unleavened 
bread at his last supper, and that there was no 
other bread used at that time. 

Q. Is there any other reason why we should 
prefer unleavened bread? 

A, Yes, unleavened bread is an emblem or sym- 
bol of sincerity and truth. Hence St. Paul admon- 
ishes us, 1 Cor. V. 7, and 8, to ' purge out the old 
leaven of malice and wickedness, and to feast with 
the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.' 

Q. What kind of wine do you make use of for 
this sacrament? 

A, Wine of the grape, with which, by apostoli- 
cal tradition, we mingle a little water. 
., Q. Has the practice of mingling water with wine 
been always observed from the Apostles' days? 

J[. It certainly has, and that throughout the 
whole Church: see St. Justin, Apolog. 2. St. Ire- 
nsDus, L. 5. c. 2. St. Cyprian, Epistola 63. ad 
Caecilium, dz;c. 

Q. Did Christ when he gave the cup to his dis- 
ciples mingle water with the wine? 

A. It is probable he did; though the scripture 
neither mentions the water nor the wine; but only 
speaks of his giving them the cup: however, the 
ancient and universal practice of the Church, in 
all probability, comes originally from the exaniple 
of Christ. 

Q. Is there not some mystery or secret mean- 
8* 



90 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

ing in the mingling the water with the wine in 
the chalice? 

A, Yes, it represents to us, first, the union of 
the human and divine nature, in the person of the 
Son of God; secondly, the union of the faithful 
with Christ their head. Thirdly, the water and 
the blood that flowed fi;om the side of Christ. 

Q. Why did our Lord appoint bread and wino 
for the matter of this sacrament? 

A, First, because bread and wine being most 
nourishing to the body were the most proper to 
represent the grace of this sacrament, which is the 
food and nourishment of the soul. Secondly, be- 
cause bread and wine are both composed of many 
individuals, (viz. grains or grapes) made one by a 
perfect union of them all; and therefore, as the 
holy fathers take notice, are, a most proper type 
or symbol of Christ's mystical body the Church, 
and of that unity which our Lord would recom- 
mend to the faithful by this sacrament. Accord- 
ing to that of St. Paul, 1 Cor. x. 17. 'We being 
many are one bread, and one body, for we are all 
partakers of that one bread.' 

Q. What other things are signified or repre- 
sented by the outward forms of bread and wine in 
this sacrament? 

A, They are chiefly designed to signify or re- 
present to us three things; the one now past, viz. 
the passion of Christ, of which they are the re- 
membrance: another really present, viz. the body 
and blood of Christ, of which they are the veil: a 
third to come, viz. everlasting life, of which they 
are the pledge. 



I 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 91 

SECTION VI. 

OF COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. 

Q. Why do not the faithful in the Catholic 
Church receive under the form of wine, as well 
as under the form of bread? 

A. The Catholic Church has always looked up- 
on it to be a thing indifferent, whether the faithful 
receive in one kind or in both; because she has 
always believed that they receive Jesus Christ 
himself the fountain of all grace, as itiuch in one 
kind as in both: but her custom and discipline for 
many ages have been to administer this sacrament 
to the laity only in one kind, viz. under the form 
of bread, by reason of the danger of spilling the 
blood of Christ, if all were to receive the cup; 
which discipline was confirmed by the general 
Council of Constance in opposition to the Hussites, 
who had the rashness to condemn in this point, the 
practice of the universal Church. 

Q. Did the Catholic Church never allow of the 
communion in both kinds? 

A She did, and may again, if she pleases; for 
this is a matter of discipline, which the Church 
may regulate oi' alter, as she shall see most expe- 
dient for the good of her children. 

Q. What do you mean, when you say, this is a 
matter of discipline; I thought communion of one 
kind had been looked upon in the Catholic Church 
as a matter of faith? 

A. You must distinguish in this case between 
that which is of faith, and that which is of discip- 
line only. It is a matter of faith, that under one 
kind we receive Christ whole and entire, and the 
true sacrament; and that there is no command of 



mimM 



M' ^ 



92 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



Christ for all the faithful to receive in both kinds, 
so far both is and ever was the faith of the Catho- 
lic Church; for her faith is unalterable. But then, 
whether the blessed sacrament should actually be 
administered to the laity in one kind or in both, 
that is to say, what is most proper or expedient for 
the Church to practice or ordain in this particular, 
considering the circumstances of time, place, &c. 
this is what I call a matter of discipline, which 
may be different in different ages, without any 
alteration of the faith of the Church. 

Q. But did not Christ command the receiving in 
both kinds, St. Matt. xxvi. 27. 'Drink ye all of it?' 

A. These words were addressed to the twelve 
Apostles, who were all that were then present; and 
the precept was by them all fulfilled; 'And they all 
drank of it.' St. Mark xiv. 23. Now it is certain, 
that many things were spoken in the gospel to, 
the Apostles, in quality of pastors of the Church, 
which were not directed to the laity; as when they 
were commissioned to preach and baptize, St. Matt, 
xxviii. 19, 20. and to absolve sinners, St. John xx. 
22. and upon this very occasion to do what Christ 
had done; that is, to consecrate and administer this 
sacrament in remembrance of him, St. Luke xxii. 
19. And consequently, it is no argument that all 
are obliged to drink of the cup, because Christ 
commanded all the Apostles to drink of it; no more 
than that all are obliged to consecrate the sacra- 
ment, because Christ commanded all the Apostles 
to do it. For both these commands were delivered 
at the same time, upon the same occasion, Wid to 
the same persons. 

Q. But why should the Apostles, and thei/ suc- 
cessors, the bishops and priests of the Chui'ch, be 
commanded to drink of the cup rather than the 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 93 

laity? Or why should Christ, at the first institu- 
tion of this sacrament, consecrate and give it in 
both kinds, if all Christians were not always to 
receive it in both kinds? 

A, To satisfy both these queries at once, you 
are to take notice that the blessed eucharist, ac- 
cording to the faith of the Catholic Church, and as 
we shall show hereafter, is a sacrifice as well as 
a sacrament; and of this sacrifice, by the institu- 
tion of Christ, the Apostles and their successors, 
the bishops and priests of the Church, are the 
ministers, whom he has commanded to offer it in 
remembrance of his death, St. Luke xxii. 19. 
Now this sacrifice in remembrance of Christ's 
death, for the more lively representing the separa- 
tion of Christ's blood from his body, requires the 
separate consecration of both kinds, and therefore 
the priests, that are the ministers of this sacrifice, 
receive at that time in both kinds; and Christ, in 
the first institution of this sacrifice, consecrated 
and gave both kinds, designing without doubt that 
it should be so received, at least by the ministers. 

Q. But why should not the nature of the sacra- 
ment as much require both kinds to be received 
by all, as' the nature of the sacrifice requires both 
kinds to be consecrated? 

A. Because the nature of the sacrament consists 
in being the sign and cause of grace; now under 
either kind there is both a sufficient sign of grace, 
viz. of the nourishment of the soul, and at the 
same time the fountain and cause of all grace, by 
the real presence of Christ, in whom are locked up 
all the treasures of grace; so that the nature of the 
sacrament sufficiently subsists in either kind. But 
the nature of the sacrifice particularly requires 
the exhibiting to God, the body and blood of hia 



mmh 



fl'.ff 



94 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Son, under the veils that represent the shedding 
of his blood, and his death; and therefore, the 
nature of the sacrifice requires the separate conse- 
cration of both kinds; which, being consecrated, 
most be received by some one, and by no one more 
properly than by the minister. 

Q. Does not Christ say, St. John vi. 63. 'Except 
ye eat of the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his 
blood, ye shall not have life in you.' 

A. He does: and in the same chapter, ver. 67, 
58, he tells us, ' He that eateth me, even he shall 
live by me; and, he that eateth of this bread, shall 
live for ever?' Which texts are easily reconciled, 
if we consider, that according to the Catholic doc- 
trine, and according to the truth, whosoever re- 
ceives the body of Christ, most certainly receives 
his blood at the same time; since the body, which 
he receives, is a living body, (for Christ can die 
no more, Rom. vi. 9.) which cannot be without the 
blood. There is no taking Christ by pieces; who- 
ever receives him, receives him whole. 

Q. But, are not the faithful deprived of a great 
part of the grace of this sacrament, by receiving 
only in one kind. 

A, No: because the grace of this sacramen* 
being annexed to the real presence of Christ, who 
is the fountain of all grace; and Christ being as 
truly and really present in one kind as in both, 
consequently he brings with him the same grace 
to the soul, when received in one kind, as he does 
when received in both. 

Q. Is it not then a privilege, granted to the 
priests above the laity, to receive in both kinds? f 

A, No: their receiving in both kinds, as often as 
they say Mass, is no privilege, but the consequence 
of the sacrifice which they have been offering, as 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 95 

you may gather from what I have told you al- 
ready: for, as for other times, when they are 
not saying Mass, no priest, bishop or pope, even 
upon his death-bed, ever receives otherwise than 
in one kind. 

Q. Have you any thing more to add in favour 
of communion in one kind? 

A. Yes; first, that the scripture in many places, 
speaking of the holy communion, makes no men- 
tion of the cup. See St. Luke xxiv. 30, 31; Acts 
ii. 42, 46. XX. 7; 1 Cor. x. 17. Secondly, that the 
scripture promises life eternal to them that receive 
in one kind, St. John vi. 51, 67, 58. Thirdly, that 
te ancient church most certainly allowed of com- 
munion in one kind, and practised it on many occa- 
sions. See Tertullian. L. 2. ad Uxorem, c. 5; St. 
Denis of Alexandria, Epist. ad Fabium Antioch, 
recorded by Eusebius, L. 6. Histor. c. 34; St. Cy- 
prian, L. de Lapsis; St. Basil, Epist. 269; St. Am- 
brose de Satyro Fratre. Paulinus in Vita Ambrosii, 
&c. Fourthly, that many learned Protestants have 
acknowledged, that there is no command in scrip- 
ture for all to receive in both kinds. See Luther, 
in his epistle to the Bohemians; Spalatensis de 
Rep. Eccles. L. 5. c. 6; Bishop Forbes, L. 2. de Eu- 
charist, c. 1, 2; White, bishop of Ely, Treatise on 
the Sabbath, p. 79; Bishop Montagu, Orig. p. 79. 

Q. But what would you say further to a scrupu- 
lous soul, which, through the prejudice of a Pro- 
testant education, could not be perfectly easy upon 
the article? 

A, I should remit such a person to the church 
and her authority, and to all those divine promises 
recorded in scripture, by which we are assured, 
that in hearing the church and her pastors, we 
are secure; that Christ and his holy Spirit shall be 



HitoHiitfMiMMiilHMMMMiiili 



96 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

always with them, to guide them into all truth 
and that the gates of hell shall never prevail 
against this authority. So that a christian soul 
has nothing to fear, in conforming herself to the 
authority and practice of the church of God; but 
very much in pretending to be wiser than the 
Church, or making a scruple to hear and obey hei 
spiritual guides. 



SECTION VII. 

of the manner of adbiinistering this blessed 
sacrament: of devotion before and after 
communion: of the obligations of receiving 
it; and of its effects. 

Q. In what manner is the blessed Eucharist 
administered to the people? 

A, After the communion of the priest in the 
Mass, such of the people as are to communicate, 
go up to the rail before the altar, and there kneel 
down; and taking the towel, hold it before their 
breasts, in such manner, that if in communicating, 
it should happen that any particle should fall, it 
may not fall to the ground, but be received upon 
the towel. Then the clerk, in the name of all the 
communicants, says the Confiteor, or the general 
form of confession, by v/hich they accuse them- 
selves of all their sins to God, to the whole court 
of heaven, and beg the prayers and intercession 
of all the triumphant and militant church. After 
which the priest, turning towards the communi- 
cants, says, 

' May the Almighty God have mercy on you, 
and forgive you your sins, and bring you to ever- 
lasting life. Amen.' 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTROCTED. 97 

*May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant 
you pardon, absolution, and remission of all your 
sins. Amen.' 

Then the priest taking the particles of the bless- 
ed sacrament, which are designed for the commu- 
nicants, and holding one of them which he elevate* 
a little over the pix or paten, pronounces the 
following words: ' Ecce Agnus Dei, <^c.' that is, 
* Behold the Lamb of God: behold him who taketh 
away the sins of the world.' Then he repeats 
three times, Domlne non sum dignus, SfC? that is, 
*Lord! I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter 
under my roof; speak but only the word, and my 
soul shall be healed.' After which he distributes 
the holy communion, inaking the sign of the cross 
with the consecrated particle upon each one, and 
saying to each one, ' Corpus Domini nostri, SfC? 
'The body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy 
soul unto life everlasting. Amen.' 

Q. In what manner is the blessed sacrament 
administered to the sick? 

A, The catholic church has always practised 
the reserving some consecrated particles of the 
blessed eucharist for communicating the sick; and 
where she enjoys free exercise of religion, takes 
care that this blessed sacrament be carried to them 
with a religious solemnity, attended with lights, 
&c. When the priest comes into the chamber 
where the sick person lies, he says, ' Peace be to 
this house.' Answ. 'iVnd to all that dwell therein,' 
Then setting down the ^pix with the blessed sacra- 
ment upon the table, which must be covered with 
a clean linen cloth, he takes holy water and sprin- 
kles the sick person and the chamber, saying, 
^Aspergcs, &c.' 'Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord! 
with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt 

9 



^^:f^ 



98 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.' 
Psal. 1. 'Have mercy on me, O God! according to 
thy great mercy. Glory be to the Father, &c.' 
Then he again repeats the Anthem, ' Thou shalt 
sprinkle me, &c.' After which he adds, ' Our 
help is in the name of the Lord.' Answ. 'Who 
. made heaven and earth.' Priest. 'O Lord! hear 
my prayer.' Answ. ' And let my cry come unto 
thee.' Priest. 'The Lord be with you.' Answ. 
' And with thy spirit.' Priest. * Let us pray.' 

The Prayer. 

O holy Lord, Almighty Father, everlasting God! 
graciously hear us; and vouchsafe to send thy holy 
angel from heaven, to guard, to cherish, protect, 
visit and defend all that dwell in this habitation, 
through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Then the priest coming to the sick person, en- 
deavours to dispose him, and prepare him for re- 
ceiving the blessed sacrament; and, if he has any 
sin upon his conscience, hears his confession, and 
absolves him. After which the sick person, or 
some other in his name, says the Confiteor; and 
the priest says, 'May the Almighty God have 
mercy on thee, &;c.;' as above. 'Behold the Lamb 
of God, &c.' 'Lord! I am not worthy, &c.' And 
in giving the blessed sacrament, if it be by the 
way of Viaticum, or preparation for death, he 
says, 'Receive, brother! (or sister!) the Viaticum 
of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, who may 
guard thee from the wicked enemy, and bring thee 
^^o everlasting life. Amen.' But if the sick person 
be not in danger of death, the priest, in giving 
the blessed sacrament, pronounces the usual form; 
'May the body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve 
thy soul to life everlasting. Amen.' 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 99 

After which the priest says the following prayer: 

O holy Lord, Almighty Father, eternal God! 
we beseech thee with faith, that the sacred body 
of our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son may be available 
to this our brother (or sister) that he has received 
it as a medicine to eternity, both for body and soul; 
through the same Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who 
liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the 
Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Then, if there remain in the pix any other par- 
ticles of the blessed sacrament, the priest gives the 
benedicton therewith to the sick person: otherwise 
he pronounces the usual blessing, making the sign 
of the cross, and saying, 'May the blessing of 
Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost descend upon thee, and remain always 
with thee. Amen.' 

Q. In what disposition of soul is a person ob- 
liged to be, in order to receive worthily the blessed 
sacrament? 

A. He is obliged to be in the state of grace, and 
free at least from the guilt of mortal sin; that is 
to say, from the guilt of any wilful transgression 
in any matter of weight, of the commandments of 
God, or his church. The reason of this is, be- 
cause a soul that is under the guilt of mortal sin 
is an enemy to God, and a slave to the devil; and 
therefore it would be a grievous crime for a soul 
in that state to presume to receive the body and 
blood of Christ, which, according to the docti^e of 
St. Paul, would be receiving damnation to herself. 

Q. What then is a person to do in order to 
prevent so great an evil? 

A, St. Paul tells you, 1 Cor. xi. 28. that he is to 
*try himself;' that is, to search and examine dill- 



100 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

gently his own conscience before he ventures to 
approach to this blessed sacrament. 

Q. And what, if upon examination, he finds his 
conscience charged with any weighty matter? 

A, He must take care to discharge it, in the 
manner that Christ has appointed, viz. by a hearty 
epentance and sincere confession; laying open the 
tate of his soul to those sacred judges to whom 
Christ said, St. John xx. 23. ' Whose sins you shall 
forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins you 
«hall retain, they are retained.' 

Q. What else is required of a person that is to 
receive the blessed sacrament? 

A, He must be fasting, at least from midnight; 
far so the church commands, agreeable to a most an- 
cient and apostolical tradition. So that if through 
inadvertence a person has taken any thing, though 
it were no more than one drop or crumb, aft«r 
twelve o'clock at night, he must by no means re- 
ceive that day; it would be a crime to attempt it. 

Q. Is there no exception from this rule? 

A, Yes, the case of danger of approaching death 
is excepted; for then persons are permitted to re- 
ceive the blessed sacrament by way of Viaticum, 
though they are not fasting. 

Q. What kind of devotion do you recommend to 
a christian that is preparing himself for the holy 
communion? 

A, Besides his clearing his conscience from sin 
by a good confession, I recommend to him, first, to 
thinl^^well on the great work he has in hand, to 
consider attentively who he is, and who it is that 
he is preparing to receive, and earnestly to beg of 
God to make him worthy. Secondly, to propose 
to himself a pure intention, viz. the honour of 
God, and the health of his own soul, and in parti- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 101 

cular, that by worthily receiving Christ he may 
come to a happy union with, him, according to 
that of St. John vi. 56. 'He that eateth my 
flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and 
I in him.' Thirdly, to meditate on the sufferings 
and death of his Redeemer, in compliance with 
that command of our Lord, St. Luke xxii. 19. 'Do 
this in remembrance of me.' Fourthly, to prepare 
himself by acts of virtue, more especially of faith, 
love and humility ; that so he may approach to his 
Lord with a firm belief of his real presence in this 
sacrament, and of his death and passion ; with an 
ardent affection of love to him who has so much 
loved us, and with a great sentiment of his own 
unworthiness and sins, joined with a firm con- 
fidence in the mercies of his Redeemer. 

Q. What ought to be a christian's behaviour at 
the time of receiving this blessed sacrament? 

A. As to the interior, he ought to have his soul 
at that time full of the sentiments we have just 
now mentioned of faith, love and humility. And 
as to the exterior, he ought to have his head erect, 
his eyes modestly cast down, his mouth moderate- 
ly upon, and his tongue a little advanced on his 
under-lip, that so the priest may conveniently put 
the sacred host on his tongue, which he must 
gently convey into his mouth, and after having 
moistened it for a moment or two on his tongue, 
swallow it as soon as he can, in all which he is 
carefully to avoid, first, the putting his mouth to 
the towel; secondly, the chewing with his teeth, or 
raising the host to the roof of his mouth; thirdly, 
the letting the sacred particle quite dissolve in his 
mouth; fourthly, the spitting soon after commu- 
nion. But if the particle should happen to stick 
to the roof of his mouth, let him not be disturbed, 

9* 



102 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

nor put his finger in his mouth to remove it; bill 
gently remove it with his tongue as soon as he 
can, and so convey it down. 

Q. What devotion do you recommend after com- 
munion ? 

A, First, adoration, praise and thanksgiving, in 
order to welcome our dear Saviour upon his com- 
ing under our roof. Here then let the soul cast her- 
self at the feet of her Lord : let her, like Magdalen, 
wash them in spirit with her tears; or, if she dares 
presume so high, let her embrace him with the 
spouse in the Canticles, and say, 'I have found 
him whom my soul loves; I will hold him, and 
shall not let him go.' Let her, like the royal pro- 
phet, invite all heaven and earth to join with her 
in praising her Lord; and let her excite all her 
powers to welcome him. Secondly, I recommend 
to the devout communicant to make a present or 
offering to Christ, in return for his having given 
himself. The present that he expects is our heart 
and soul, which, with all its faculties, ought on 
this occasion to be offered and consecrated to our 
Lord. Thirdly, at this time the soul ought to lay 
all her necessities before her Redeemer, and not 
neglect so favourable a conjuncture of sueing for 
his mercy and grace, both for herself and the 
whole world; for those more especially whom she 
is in particular obliged to pray for: and above all 
things let her pray, that nothing in life or death 
may ever separate her from the love of him whom 
she has here received, and chosen for her Lord 
and spouse for ever. 

Q. What do you think of those that spend lit- 
tle or no time in recollection and devotion after 
communion? 

A. I think they put an affront upon Christ in so 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 103 

quickly turning their backs upon him; and that 
they wrong their own souls, which by this neglect 
are robbed of those graces and comforts which 
they would have received if they had staid in his 
company. 

Q, Have you any thing more to recommend 
after communion? 

A, I have this to recommend with regard to the 
whole following day, that a person take care to be 
more than ordinarily recollected, and vefi-y much 
upon his guard against the snares of the enemy, 
who is never more busy than upon this occasion to 
fiing some temptation or provocation in a Chris- 
tian's way, by which he may disturb the soul, and 
rob her of the treasure which she has received; 
and therefore it behoves Christians to be cautious 
against this wicked enemy and all his stratagems, 
lest by putting us into a passion, or otherwise 
drawing us into sin, he quickly put Christ out of 
our souls. 

If you desire to be more perfectly instructed in 
what relates to this blessed sacrament, and the 
devotion that is proper before and after commu- 
nion, I refer you to Father Lewis de Granada's 
Memorial of a Christian life, book III. Dr. Go- 
binet's second volume of the Instruction of Youth; 
or Mr. Gother's little book of Instructions and 
Devotions for Confession and Communion. 

Q. Are all Christians that are come to the years 
of discretion, under an obligation of receiving this 
sacrament? 

A, They certainly are, first, by a divine pre- 
cept or commandment of Christ, St. John vi. 64. 
* Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and 
drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.' 
Which precept obliges to the receiving sometimes 



4i 



104 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

at least in our life, and at our death. Secondly, 
by a precept or commandment of the church pub- 
lished in the great council of Lateran, anno 1215: 
by which all the faithful are obliged to receive at 
least once a year, and that within the Easter-time, 
(which begins on Palm-Sunday and lasts till Low- 
Sunday) except the person, by the advice of his 
pastor, should, for some just reason be permitted 
to put off his communion till another time. 

Q. What is the penalty imposed by this council 
on such as neglect their Easter communion? 

A. The council orders, that such offenders should 
be excluded the church, and, if they die in this 
transgression, be deprived of Christian burial. 

Q. Are persons then actually excommunicated 
that neglect their Easter communion? 

A. No, they are not, till superiors pronounce the 
sentence of excommunication against them: because 
the council does not actually inflict this penalty, but 
only orders or authorizes the inflicting of it. 

Q. If a person has passed by the time of Easter, 
or was hindered from communicating at that time, 
is he obliged to communicate afterwards, as soon 
as he can? 

A. Yes he is; at least if you speak of one that 
has been a whole year without communicating; for 
the church-precept obliges to the receiving at least 
once a year. For the same reason, a person that 
has not been at communion within a year, and 
foresees that he shall be hindered at Easter, ought 
to anticipate Paschal communion, by receiving be- 
forehand. 

Q. And what if a person has made a sacrilegiou. 
communion at Easter, has such a one satisfied the 
precept of the church? 

A, No certainly. (See the 55th proposition con- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 106 

lemned by Innocent XI.) And therefore such a 
♦ne remains obliged to communion, in the same 
.ftianner as if he had not communicated at all. 

Q, At what age are christians obliged by the 
precept of the church to communicate? 

A. As soon as they come to the years of discre- 
tion, as it is expressed in the council of Lateran: 
that is, when they have that perfect use of reason, 
and are so well instructed in their duty as to be 
able to discern the body of the Lord, and to receive 
it with due reverence and devotion. Now this hap- 
pens in some earlier, in others later: but seldom 
earlier than about ten years of age, 

Q. But what if a child, that is between seven 
and ten years of age, should be in evident danger 
of death? 

A. Many divines are of opinion, if such a one 
be come to the use of reason (which is commonly 
presumed after seven years of age) that he may, 
©r even ought to receive, because of the com- 
mand of Christ, St. John vi. 64. So Saurez, Na- 
varrus, &;a 

Q. What are the effects of this blessed sacra- 
ment in the worthy receivers? 

A. It is the food, nourishment, strength and life 
of the soul, by supplying it with sanctifying grace, 
by repairing its forces, by arming it against its 
passions and concupisciences, by maintaining it at 
present in the life of grace, and bringing it to life 
and glory everlasting; according to that of St. John 
vi. 61. ^ The bread that I will give is my flesh, for 
the life of the world;' and ver. 68 *He that eateth 
of this bread, shall live for ever.' 



ii 



106 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



SECTION VIII. 

OF THE WORSHIP OF CHRIST IN THIS SACRAMENT: 
WHERE ALSO OF BENEDICTIONS AND PROCESSIONS. 

Q. What kind of honour is due to this blessed 
sacrament? 

A. Divine honour and adoration, inasmuch as it 
contains truly and really the divine Person of 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God; who, as he is truly 
God, ought most certainly to be adored, wherever 
he is. 

Q. Is there no danger of idolatry in this practice? 

A, No certainly; because this honour is not paid 
to the outward veil, or the sacramental signs, but 
to Jesus Christ, who lies hidden there: now Jesus 
Christ is no idol, but the true and living God. 

Q. But if the doctrine of the real presence and 
transubstantiation should not be truo, should we 
not then at least be guilty of idolatry? 

A. We are as positively certain, by divine faith, 
of the truth of the doctrine of the real presence, 
and of transubstantiation, as Protestants can be of 
the divinity of Jesus Christ; and therefore we are 
as much out of the reach of the danger of idolatry, 
in worshipping Christ in this sacrament, as they 
are in worshipping him in heaven. I shall add, 
for their further satisfaction, that some of their 
best divines have discharged us from all danger of 
idolatry in worshipping Christ in this sacrament; 
as they may find in Dr. Jeremy Taylor's Liberty 
of Prophesying, sect. 20. numb. 26. and Mr, Thorn- 
dike's Just Weights and Measures, c. 19.. p. 125. 
Dr. Taylor's words on this subject deserve to be 
remarked. He writes as follow, " Idolatry is a 
forsaking the true God, and giving divine worship 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 107 

^ a creature, or to an idol; that is, to an ima- 
/inary God. — Now it is evident that the object of 
heir (the Catholics) adoration, in the blessed sa- 
irament, is the only true and eternal God, hypo- 
statically joined with his holy humanity, which 
Humanity they believe actually present, under the 
veil of the sacramental signs. And if they thought 
nim not present, they are so far from worshipping 
the bread in this case, that themselves profess it 
idolatry to do so. Which is a demonstration that 
the soul has nothing in it that is idolatrical; the 
will has nothing in it but what is a great enemy to 
to idolatry; and nothing burns in hell but proper 
will." So far this learned Protestant prelate. 

Q. Why does the Catholic church reserve the 
blessed sacrament in her churches? 

A, She reserves the blessed sacrament in taber- 
nacles, upon her altars, partly that she may have 
it there to carry to the sick at all hours, whenever 
they shall be in need of it; and partly for the com- 
fort of her children, who by this means have Jesus 
Christ always amongst them, and may come when 
they please to visit him. This custom, of reserv- 
ing the blessed sacrament, is as ancient as Chris 
tianity, as appears from the most* certain monu- 
ments of antiquity. And it is upon account of the 
blessed sacrament, reserved in the tabernacle, that 
a lamp hangs before the altar to burn there day 
and night, and that we kneel a^ often we pass 
before the tabernacle. 

Q. Why is the blessed sacrament, upon certain 
days, exposed to the view of the people in a re- 
monstrance set up upon the altar? 

* Tertullian 1. 2. ad Uxorem c. 5. St. Cyprian, 1. do 
Lapsie, &,c. 



108 CATHOLIC CHKISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A. It is to invite the people to come there to 
adore Jesus Christ, and to excite in them a greater 
devotion by the sight of their Lord, veiled in these 
sacred mysteries. 

Q. What is the meaning of the benediction 
given on certain days? 

A. It is a devotion practised by the church, in 
order to give adoration, praise and thanksgiving 
to God, for his infinite goodness and love, testified 
to us in the institution of this blessed sacrament, 
and to receive at the same time the benediction or 
blessing of our Lord there present. 

Q. Why is the blessed sacrament sometimes 
carried in solemn procession through the streets? 

A. To honour our Lord there present with a 
kind of triumph, and thereby to make him some 
sort of amends for the injuries and affronts v^hich 
are so frequently offered to this divine sacrament; 
and to obtain his blessing for all those places 
through which he passes. 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS, 

Q. What do you mean by the Mass? 

A. The Mass is the liturgy of the Catholic 
church, and consists in the consecration of the 
bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, 
and the offering up of this same body and blood to 
God, by the ministry of the priest, for a perpetual 
memorial of Christ's sacrifice upon the cross, and a 
continuation of the same till the end of the world. 

Q. Why is this liturgy called the Mass? 

A, Some think this word is derived from the 
Hebrew word missach, Deut. xvi. which signifies a 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 109 

voluntary offering; others are of opinion, that it is 
derived from the missa, or missio, that is, from the 
dismission of the catechmens and others, who were 
not permitted anciently to be present at this sacri- 
fice. But be this as it will, the name is of very 
ancient use in the church, as appears from St. Am- 
brose, 1. 2. Epist. 14. ad Sororem; St. Leo, Epist. 
81. ad Dioscorum; and St. Gregory, Horn. 6. in 
Evangelia. 

Q. Is the Mass properly a sacrifice? 

A. Yes it is. 

Q. What do you mean by a sacrifice ? 

A, A sacrifice, properly so called, is an oblation 
or offering of some sensible thing made to God by 
a lawful minister, to acknowledge, by the destruc- 
tion or other change in the thing offered the sove- 
reign power of God, and to render him the hom- 
age due to his supreme majesty. 

Q. How then is the Mass a sacrifice ? 

A, Because it is an oblation of the body and 
blood of Jesus Christ, offered under the outward 
and sensible signs of bread and wine to God, by 
the ministry of the priests of the church, lawfully 
consecrated and empowered by Christ; and this 
oblation is accompanied with a real change and 
destruction of the bread and wine, by the conse- 
cration of them into the body and blood of Christ, 
and a real exhibiting of Christ our victim, hereto- 
fore immolated upon the cross, and here mystically 
dying in the separate consecration of the two dif- 
ferent species; and this oblation is made to God to 
acknowledge his sovereign power, to render him 
our homage, and for all the other ends for which 
sacrifice is offered to his divine majesty. 

Q. What are the ends for which sacrifice of old 
was offered, and is still to be offered to God? 

10 



110 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A, For these four ends; first, for God's own 
honour and glory, by acknowledging his sove 
reignty and paying him our homage; secondly, to 
give God thanks for all his blessings; thirdly, to 
beg pardon for our sins; fourthly, to obtain grace 
and blessings from his divine majesty. 

Q. Have the servants of God, from the begin- 
ning of the world, been always accustomed to hon- 
our him with sacrifices? 

A, Yes they have. Witness the sacrifice of 
Abel, Gen. iv. the sacrifice of Noah, Gen. viii. the 
sacrifice of Melchisedech, Gen. xiv. the sacrifices 
of Abraham, Gen. xv. and xxii. the sacrifices of 
Job, ch. i. and xlii. and the many different kind 
of sacrifices prescribed in the law of Moses. Of 
these ancient sacrifices some were holocausts, or 
whole burnt-offerings, in which the victim or host 
was wholly consumed by fire, and thereby given 
fully to God without reserve for the more perfect 
acknowledgment of his sovereignty. Others were 
sin-offerings or sacrifices offered for sin: others 
were pacific or peace-offerings; and these were 
either offered in thanksgiving for blessings re- 
<jeived, or for obtaining of graces and favours from 
the divine Majesty. Again, some were bloody 
sacrifices, in which the victim was slain; others 
unbloody, as the sacrifice of Melchisedech, which 
was bread and wine. Gen. xiv. the sacrifices of 
fine flour with oil and frankincense, of unleavened 
cakes, &c. prescribed Levit. ii. of the scapegoat, 
Levit. xvi. &c. 

Q. Were these sacrifices of the law of nature, 
and of the law of Moses, agreeable to the divine 
Majesty? 

A. They were, as often as they were accom- 
panied with the inward sacrifice of the heart; not 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. Ill 

for any virtue or efficacy that they had in them- 
selves, as being but weak and needy elements, but 
in view of the sacrifice of Christ, of which they all 
were types and figures, and in consideration of the 
faith of those that offered them, by which they be- 
lieved in a Redeemer to come, whose blood alone 
was capable to reconcile them to God. 

Q. Why are all these sacrifices now abolished? 

A. Because they were but figures of the sacri- 
fice of Christ, and therefore were to give place to 
his sacrifice, as figures to the truth. 

Q. How do you prove that these ancient sacri- 
fices had no power nor efficacy of themselves, and 
were to make way for another sacrifice, viz. that 
of Christ? 

A, This is evident from many texts of scrip- 
ture; I shall only allege one at present, viz. Psalm 
xxxix. spoken in the person of Christ to his Father: 
'Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not; but ears 
thou hast perfected to me, (or as St. Paul reads it, 
Heb. X. 5. a body thou hast prepared for me) holo- 
caust and sin-offering thou didst require, then said 
I, behold I come.' 

Q. What is then the sacrifice of Christians un- 
der the new law? 

A. We have no other sacrifice but that of Christ, 
which he once offered upon the cross; and daily 
offers by the ministry of his priests upon the altar 
in the eucharist. 

Q. Is the sacrifice of the cross and that of the 
eucharist the same sacrifice, or two distinct sa- 
crifices ? 

A. It is the same sacrifice ; because the victim is 
the self-same, viz. Jesus Christ; and the priest or 
principal offerer is also the self-same Jesus Christ: 
it was he that offered himself upon the cross: it is 



112 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

he that offers himself upon the altar. The only 
difference is in the manner of the offering; because 
in the sacrifice of the cross, Christ really died, and 
therefore that was a bloody sacrifice; in the sa- 
crifice of the altar, he only dies mystically, and 
therefore this is an unbloody sacrifice. 1 say he 
dies mystically, inasmuch as his death is represent- 
ed in the consecrating apart the bread and wine, 
to denote the shedding of his sacred blood, from 
his body, at the time of his death. 

Q. Why do you say, that Jesus Christ is the 
priest that offers the sacrifice of the altar, since 
there is always another priest to perform this 
office? 

A, Because the priest that officiates in the Mass, 
officiates as Christ's vice-gerent, and in his Person; 
and therefore when he comes to the consecration 
of the elements, in which this sacrifice essentially 
consists, he speaks not in his own name, but in the 
name and person of Christ, saying, ' This is my 
body, this is the chalice of my blood, &c.' So that 
Christ himself is the principal priest; the officiant 
only acts by his authority, in his name and person. 

Q. But what need was there of the sacrifice of 
the altar, since we are fully redeemed by the sa- 
crifice of the cross? 

A, First, that we might have in the sacrifice 
of the altar a standing memorial of the death of 
Christ. Secondly, that by the sacrifice of the al- 
tar the fruit of his death might daily be applied to 
our souls. Thirdly, that his children might have, 
till the end of the world an eternal sacrifice, in 
which they might join together in ,the outward 
worship of religion, as the servants of God from 
the beginning of the world had always done. 
Fourthly, that in and by this sacrifice, they might 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAI^ INSTRUCTED. 113 

unite themselves daily with their high-priest and 
victim Christ Jesus, and daily answer the four 
ends of sacrifice. 

Q. What proofs have you that the Mass is pro- 
perly a sacrifice? 

A. Because as we learn from many plain texts 
of scripture, quoted in the foregoing chapter, and 
from the perpetual tradition of the universal 
church, in the consecration of the holy eucharist, 
the bread and wine are really changed into the 
body and blood of Christ; and consequently in and 
by this consecration, the real body and blood of 
Christ our victim, which for us was immolated 
upon the cross, is in the Mass exhibited and pre- 
sented to God. Therefore the Mass is properly a 
sacrifice, and the same sacrifice as that which 
Christ offered upon the cross. And that this sa- 
crifice is propitiatory for the obtaining of the re- 
mission of our sins, we learn from the very words 
of Christ our Lord, at the first institution of it at 
his last supper, when in the consecration of the 
elements, speaking in the present tense, he tells 
us, (as his words are in the original Greek.) 
' This is my body which is broken or sacrificed' 
for you,' 1 Cor. xi. 24. ' This is my blood of the 
New Testament which is shed for many for the 
remission of sins,' Matt. xxvi. 28. St. Mark xiv. 
24, or, ' This cup is the New Testament in my 
blood, which (cup) is shed for you, viz. for the 
remission of your sins.' 

Q. Have you any other texts of scripture for 
the sacrifice of the Mass? 

A, Yes, besides many figures of this sacrifice in 
the Old Testament (of which the most evident \^ 
that of the bread and wine offered by Melchisedech 
the priest of the Most-high God, Gen. xiv. accord- 

10* 



114 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



ing to whose order, Christ is said to be ajpriest for 
ever, Psal. ex. and that as the holy fathers* take 
notice, by reason of this sacrifice of the eucharist) 
we have the prophecy of Malachy, chap, i 10, 11. 
where God rejecting the Jewish sacrifices, declares 
his acceptance of the sacrifice or pure offering 
which should be made to him in every place among 
the Gentiles: which text the ancient fathers, both 
Greek and Latin, urge to shew that the eucharist 
is a sacrifice. See St. Justin in Dialog, cum 
Tryphone; St. Irenseus 1. 4. c. 32. St. Chryso- 
stom in Psal. 92. St. Augustine 1. 18, de Civitate 
Dei, G. 35, &c. 

In the New Testament we have Heb. xiii. 10. 
where the Apostle tells us, that under the new law 
we have an altar, (and consequently a sacrifice) 
whereof they have no right to eat whu serve the 
tabernacle, that is, they who continue in the ser- 
vice of the old law: and, 1 Cor. x. from ver. 14. 
to 21, the same x4postle makes a parallel between 
the partakers of the Christian sacrifice and those 
that partake of the Jewish and Heathenish victims, 
•so as evidently to suppose, that the Christian table 
which he mentions, ver. 21. is an altar, where 
'Christ is mystically immolated, and afterwards 
•eaten by the faithful, as in the Jewish and Hea- 
thenish sacrifices the victim was first offered on 
"the altar, and then eaten by the people. From 
whence the Apostle infers, that they who were 
ipartakers of this great sacrifice of the body and 
blood of Christ, ver. 16^ ought not to be partakers 

* St. Cyprian, Epist. 63. St. Chrysostom, Horn. 35, de 
Gen. St. Epiphanius, Hier. 55. St. Jerome, Epist. 126, ad 
Evang. St. Augustine, Cone. 1. in Ps. 33. 1. 15. de Civ. n 
'C. 22. Lei. 18, c. 35, &c. St. Cyril, 1. 2. Glaphyrs Theo 
•deret Qu.*64, in Gen. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 115 

with devils, by eating of the meats sacrificed to 
idols, veri 21. The sacrifice of the Mass is also 
mentioned in the 13th chapter of the Acts of the 
Apostles, ver. 2. where what we read in the Pro- 
testant Testament 'As they ministered to the Lord 
and fasted, &c.' in the Greek original is, ' as they 
were sacrificing to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy 
Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for 
the work whereunto I have called them.' Where 
the word which we have rendered in English, 
sacrificing is the self-same which to this day is 
used by the Greeks to express the sacrifice of the 
Mass. 

Besides these arguments from scripture for the 
sacrifice offered to God in the blessed eucharist, 
we have the authority and the perpetual tradition 
of the church of God, from the days of the Apos- 
tles. Witness the most ancient liturgies of all 
the churches and nations, Latins, Greeks, Goths, 
Syrians, Armenians, Egyptians, Ethiopians, In- 
dians, &c. Witness the manifold testimonies of 
councils and fathers of all ages; witness the fre- 
quent use in all Christian antiquity of the names 
of altar, sacrifice, oblation, priest, &c. Witness, 
m fine, the universal consent of Christians of all 
denominations before Luther's time, in offering up 
the eucharist as a sacrifice; which is a matter of 
fact that cannot be contested. To which, if we 
add another truth, no less notorious, viz. that no 
one of our adversaries can pretend to assign the 
time in which the use of this sacrifice first began; 
we cannot have a more certain proof of an aposto- 
lical tradition. It is the rule which St. Augustine 
gives to discern apostolical traditions by; 1. 4. de 
Bapt. c. 24. 



116 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. But does not St. Paul say, Heb. x. 14 that 
Christ, by one offering, viz. that of the cross, hath 
perfected for ever them that are sanctified. What 
room then can there be for the sacrifice of the 
Mass? 

A, What the Apostle says is certainly true, that 
the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, is that one 
offering by which we are perfected for ever, be- 
cause the whole world was redeemed by that one 
sacrifice, and all other means of our sanctification 
or salvation have their force and efficacy from that 
one offering. Yet as that one offering, by which 
Christ has perfected for ever them that are sancti- 
fied, is no way injured, by his supplications which 
as man he makes for us to his Father in heaven, 
where, as the same Apostle tells us, Heb. vii. 25. 
^He ever liveth to make intercession for us;' so 
neither is it any ways injured, but highly honour- 
ed by the representing the same offering to God in 
the sacrifice of the altar. 

Q. But the Apostle tells us, Heb. xi. 25. that 
Christ does not offer himself often, what say you 
to this? 

A. He speaks there of offering himself in a 
bloody manner, by dying for the redemption of the 
world; which was to be but once. But though the 
price of our redemption was to be paid but once* 
yet the fruit of it was to be daily applied to our 
souls, by those means of grace which Christ has 
left in his Church, that is, by his sacraments ano 
sacrifice. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED lYf 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF HEARING MASS; WHERE ALSO OF THE ORDER AND 
CEREMONIES OF THE MASS; AND THE DEVOTION 
PROPER FOR THAT TIME. 

• Q. Are the faithful obliged to be present at the 
sacrifice of the Mass? 

A. They are obliged, by a precept of the Church, 
to be present thereat upon all Sundays and holi- 
days. 

Q, Why does the Church oblige all her chiU 
dren to assist at the sacrifice of the Mass upon all 
Sundays and holidays? 

A, That as Sundays and holidays are particu- 
larly set apart for the worship of God, and the 
sanctification of their souls, they may answer these 
ends by assembling together on these days, to com- 
memorate the death of Christ, and to offer to God 
this most solemn worship of sacrifice, by the hands 
of the priests and of their high-priest Christ Jesus: 
first, in testimony of God's sovereignty, and as a 
homage due to his divine Majesty; secondly, to 
give thanks for all his blessings general and parti- 
cular; thirdly, to beg mercy and pardon for all 
their sins; fourthly, to obtain all necessary graces 
from the fountain of all grace. 

Q. Why might not this as well be done without 
going to hear Mass? 

A. Because, as we have seen in the foregoing 
chapter, the Mass is a sacrifice instituted by Christ 
to be offered for all those ends. And as in this 
sacrifice Christ himself is both the priest and the 
victim, who here presents to his eternal Father, 
that same body and blood by which we were 
redeemed; it must be evident, that there can be 



fIJ! 



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118 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

no better means of adoring God, and offering our 
homage to him, than by uniting ourselves to this 
sacrifice of his only Son; no more acceptable 
thanksgiving than that which is here offered, by 
and through Jesus Christ; no means of obtaining 
mercy and pardon comparable to this oblation of 
the blood of the lamb: in fine, no more seasonable 
time for obtaining the favours of heaven, than 
when we appear before the throne of grace with 
him, and through him, in whom his Father is 
always well pleased. 

Q. In what disposition of soul ought persons 
then go to hear Mass? 

A, They ought to go as if they were going to 
Mount Calvary, to be present at the passion and 
death of their Redeemer; since the Mass is indeed 
the same sacrifice as that which he there offered. 
And consequently there can be no better devotion 
for the time of the Mass, than that which has rela- 
tion to the passion of Christ, which is therein com- 
memorated and represented to the eternal Father. 
And all the faithful, when they are at Mass, should 
endeavour to put their souls in the like dispositions 
of adoration, thanksgiving, love, and repentance 
for their sins, with which a good christian would 
have assisted at the sacrifice of the cross, had he 
been present there. 

Q. What think you of those, who, during the 
time of Mass, instead of attending to this great 
sacrifice, suffer themselves to be carried away 
with wilful distractions? 

A. Such as these do not hear Mass, that is, they 
do not fulfil the church precept, nor satisfy the 
obligation of the day, but rather mock God, whilst 
outwardly they pretend to honour him, and their 
heart is far from him. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 119 

Q. What then do you say to those who, during 
the time of the Mass, are laughing and talking, or 
pass that time in criminal amusements? 

A, These not only are guilty, like the former, 
of breaking the church precept, but also must an- 
swer for the scandal that they give by their ill 
example, and for their hindering others to attend 
to their duty; as well as for their profaning those 
most sacred mysteries, by such an unchristian 
behaviour at this holy time. 

Q. I should be glad if you would explain to me 
the order and ceremonies of the Mass: and first, 
pray what is the meaning of the priest's vestments? 

A, The priest, in saying Mass, represents the 
person of Christ, who is the high-priest of the new 
law, and the Mass itself represents his passion; and 
therefore, the priest puts on these vestments, to 
represent those with which Christ was ignomini- 
ously clothed at the time of his passion. Thus, 
for instance, the Amice represents the rag or clout 
with which the Jews muffled our Saviour's face, 
when at every blow they bid him prophesy who it 
was that struck him. St. Luke xxii. 64. The Alb 
represents the white garment with which he was 
vested by Herod. The Girdle, Maniple, and Stole, 
represent the cords and bands with which he was 
bound in the different stages of his passion. The 
Chasuble, or outward vestment, represents the pur- 
ple garment with which he was clothed as a mock 
king; upon the back of which there is a cross, to 
represent that which Christ bore on his sacred 
shoulders. Lastly, the priest's tonsure or crown, is 
to represent the crown of thorns which our Saviour 
w^ore. Moreover, as in the old law, the priests 
that were to officiate in sacred function had, by the 
appointment of God, vestments assigned for that 



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120 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

purpose, as well for the greater decency and so- 
lemnity of the divine worship, as to signify and 
represent the virtues which God required of his 
ministers, so it was proper, that in the church of 
the New Testament, Christ's ministers should, in 
their sacred functions, be distinguished from the 
laity by their sacred vestments, which might also 
represent the virtues which God requires in them: 
thus the Amice, which is first put upon the head, 
represents divine hope, which the Apostle calls the 
helmet of salvation; the Alb, innocence of life; the 
Girdle, (with which the loins are begirt) purity and 
patient suffering, the labours of this mortal life; the 
Stole, the sweet yoke of Christ to be borne in this 
life, in order to a happy immortality in the next; 
in fine, the Chasuble, which as uppermost, covers 
all the rest, the virtue of charity. 

In these vestments the church makes use of five 
colours, the white, on the feasts of our Lord, of the 
blessed Virgin, of the angels, and of the saints that 
were not martyrs; the red, on the feast of Pente- 
cost, of the invention and exaltation of the cross, 
and of the Apostles and martyrs; the green, on the 
greatest part of the Sundays; the violet, in the 
penitential times of Advent and Lent, and upon 
Vigils and Ember-days; and the black upon Good- 
Friday, and in the Masses for the dead. 

Q. Why is there always a crucifix upon the 
altar at the time of Mass? 

A. That as the Mass is said in remembrance of 
Christ's passion and death, the priest and people 
may have always before their eyes the image that 
represents his passion and death. 

Q. What is the meaning of having lighted can- 
dles upon the altar at the time of Mass? 

A, First, to honour the triumph of our King, 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 121 

which is there celebrated by these lights, which 
are tokens of our joy, and of his glory. Secondly, 
to denote the light of faith, with which we are to 
approach him. 

Q. What is the meaning of making a reverence 
to the altar? 

A, First, because the altar is a figure of Christ, 
who is not only our sacrifice and our high-priest, 
but our altar too, inasmuch as we are to offer our 
prayers and sacrifices through him. Secondly, 
because the altar is the seat of the divine mys- 
teries, aud therefore deserves our reverence. 

Q. What is the meaning of the use of incense is 
the Mass and other offices of the church? 

A. Incense is an emblem of prayer, ascending 
to God from a heart enfiamed with his love, as the 
smoke of incense ascends on high from the fire of 
the censer. Hence the royal prophet, Psal. cxl. 
says, 'Let my prayer, O Lord! be directed like 
incense in thy sight.' And St. John, in the Reve- 
lation, c. V. 8. and c. viii. 3, 4. saw the four and 
twenty elders and the angel offering up to God 
odours and incense, which were the prayers of the 
saints. Moreover the incensing of the altar, of 
the priest, &c. is according to the use of the 
church, a token of honour to the thing that is in- 
censed: not of divine honour, since we also incense 
the whole choir and the people, but of a due re- 
spect for the things of God, for his ministers and 
people. 

Q. What is the use of singing, and of organs in 
the divine service? 

A. To help us to raise our hearts to heaven, 
and to celebrate with greater solemnity the divine 
praises. 

Q. Tell me now, if you please, the different 
11 



1 



122 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

parts of the Mass, and the ceremonies thereof, that 
I may be the better instructed in this heavenly 
sacrifice? 

A, First, the priest standing at th« foot of the 
altar, having made a low reverence, begins with 
the sign of the cross, saying, In Nomine Patris, &fC, 
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost, and then recites alternately with 
the clerk the 42d Psalm, Judica me DeuSj SfC 
Judge me, O God! &c. composed by David, in the 
time that he was persecuted by Saul, and kept at ? 
distance from the tabernacle or temple of God, and 
expressing his ardent desires and hopes of ap- 
proahing to God's altar, and offering praise and 
sacrifice to him. And therefore this Psalm is 
most proper here, as expressing the sentiments 
of soul, with which we ought to come to this holy 
sacrifice? 

Secondly, the priest, bowing down at the foot 
of the altar, says the Confiteor, or general confes- 
sion, acknowledging his sins to God, to the whole 
court of heaven, and to all the faithful there as- 
sembled, and begging their prayers to God for 
him: and the clerk repeats the same in the name 
of the people: to the end that both priest and peo- 
ple may dispose themselves for this great sacrifice, 
by a sincere repentance for their sins. Our ad- 
versaries object against this form of confession, be- 
cause therein we confess our sins to the saints; as 
if this was giving them an honour that belongs to 
God alone, not considering that the confessing of 
our sins to any one, so far from being an honour 
peculiar to God, is what we are directed in scrip- 
ture to do to one another, St. James v. 16. And 
accordingly in this very form, which we call the 
Confiteor J we not only confess our sins to God, and 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 123 

to his saints, but the priest also confesses to the 
people and the people to the priest. 

Thirdly, the priest in going up to the altar begs 
for himself and the people, that God would take 
away their iniquities, that they may be worthy to 
enter into his sanctuary. Then coming up to the 
altar he kisses it in reverence to Christ, of whom 
it is a figure; and going to the book, he reads what 
is called the Introit, or entrance of the Mass; which 
is different every day, and generally an Anthem 
taken out of the scripture, with the first verse of 
one of the Psalms, and the Gloria Patri, to glorify 
the blessed Trinity. 

Fourthly, he returns to the middle of the altar, 
and says alternately with the clerk the Kyrie Elei- 
son, or Lord have mercy on us, which is said three 
times to God the Father; three times, Christe Elei- 
son, or Christ have mercy on us, to God the Son; 
and three times again Kyrie Eleison, to God the 
Holy Ghost. This frequently calling for mercy, 
leaches us the necessity of approaching to this 
sacrifice with a penitential spirit, and that the best 
devotion for this beginning of the Mass, is to offer 
up to God the sacrifice of a contrite and humble 
heart. 

Fifthly, after the Kyrie Eleison^ the priest re- 
cites the Gloria in Excelsis, Glory be to God on 
high, &c. being an excellent hymn and prayer to 
God, the beginning of which was sung by the an- 
gels at the birthtof Christ. This being a hymn of 
joy, is omitted in the Masses for the dead, and in 
the penitential times of Advent, Lent, &c. After 
this the priest, turning about to the people, says, 
' Dominus vobiscum,'^ ' the Lord be with you,' Answ. 
'Et cum spiritu tuo,'' ' and with thy spirit.' Then 
returning to the bopk, he says, 'Oremus^ ^Let us 



124 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

pray;' and then reads the collects or prayers of 
that day, concluding them with the usual termina- 
tion, ^ Per Dominum nostrum^ SfC? 'Through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, &c.' with which the Church 
commonly concludes all her prayers, as hoping 
for no mercy, grace or blessing, but through our 
Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Sixthly, after the collects, is read the lesson or 
epistle of the day, (and upon the Wednesdays and 
Saturdays in the Ember-weeks several lessons or 
epistles) at the end of which the clerk answers, 
' Deo Gratias^'' i. e. ' Thijnks be to God ;' to give 
God thanks for the heavenly instruction contained 
in that divine lesson of holy writ. The lesson or 
epistle is followed by the gradual or tract, consist- 
ing of some devout verses taken out of scripture; 
to which are joined the alleluias, to praise God 
with joy, excepting in the penitential time between 
Septuagesima and Easter, for then alleluia is not 
said. 

Seventhly, after the epistle and gradual, the 
book is removed to the other side of the altar, in 
order to read the gospel of the day; which removal 
of the book represents the passing from the preach- 
ing of the old law, figured by the lesson or epistle, 
to the gospel of Jesus Christ, published by the 
preachers of the new law. The priest, before he 
reads the gospel, makes his prayer, bowing down 
before the middle of the altar, that God would 
cleanse his heart and his lips, that he may be 
worthy to declare his gospel. At the beginning of 
the gospel both priest and people make the sign of 
the cross, first, upon the forehead, to signify that 
they will not be ashamed of the cross of Christ 
and his doctrine; secondly, upon the mouth, to 
signify that they will profess it in words; thirdly, 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



•125 



upon the breast, to signify that they will always 
keep it in their hearts. During the gospel the 
people stand, to shew, by this posture, their readi- 
ness to go and do whatsoever they shall be com- 
manded by their Saviour in his divine word. At 
the end, the clerk answers, in the name of the 
people, ' Laus iibi Christe^ ' Praise be to thee, O ! 
Christ;' to give praise to our Redeemer for his 
heavenly doctrine; and the priest kisses the book, 
in reverence to those sacred words which he has 
been reading out of it. In the high or solemn 
Mass, the gospel is sung by the deacon, and lighted 
candles are held by the acolyths on each side, to 
denote the light which Christ brought us by his 
gospel. 

Eighthly, after the gospel upon all Sundays, as 
also upon the feasts of our Lord, of the blessed 
Virgin, of the Apostles, and of the doctors of the 
Church, the priest, standing at the middle of the 
altar, recites the Nicene Creed and kneels down at 
these words, ' Et homo /actus est^ ' And *was made 
man,' in reverence to the mystery of our Lord's 
incarnation. Then turning about to the people, he 
greets them with the usual salutation, ' Dominus vo- 
hiscum^ 'The Lord be with you.' Answ. ' Et cum 
spiritu tuo^ ' And with thy spirit.' After which he 
reads a short sentence of scripture called the Offer- 
tory, and then takes off the veil from the chalice, 
in order to proceed to the offering up the bread 
and wine for sacrifice. 

Ninthly, he offers first the bread upon the pa- 
ten, or little plate; then pours the wine into the 
chalice, mingling with it a little water, and offers 
that up in like manner, begging that this sacrifice 
may be accepted of by the Almighty for the remis- 
sion of his sins, for all there present, for all the 

11* 



126 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

faithful living and dead, and for the salvation of 
the world. Then bowing down, he says, 'In the 
spirit of hunnility, and in a contrite niind, may we 
be received by thee, O Lord: and so may our 
sacrifice be made this day in thy sight, that it may 
please thee, O Lord God.' Then he blesses the 
bread and wine with the sign of the cross, invok- 
ing the Holy Ghost, saying, ' Come thou, the Sanc- 
tifier, the Almighty and eternal God, and bless i^ 
this sacrifice prepared for thy holy name.' After 
this he goes to the corner of the altar, and there 
washes the tips of his fingers, saying, ' Lavaho, ^c' 
'I will wash my hands among the innocent, and 
I will encompass thy altar, O Lord, &:c.' as in the 
latter part of the 25th Psalm. This washing of 
the fingers denotes the cleanness and purity of 
soul with which these divine mysteries are to be 
celebrated; which ought to be such, as not only 
to wash away all greater filth, but even the 
dust which sticks to the tips of our fingers, by 
which are signified the smallest faults and im- 
perfections. 

Tenthly, after washing his fingers the priest 
returns to the middle of the altar, and there bow- 
ing down, begs of the blessed Trinity to receive 
this oblation in memory of the passion, resurrec- 
tion and ascenion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for 
an honourable commemoration of the blessed Vir- 
giiji and of all the saints, that they may intercede 
for us in heaven, whose memory we celebrate on 
earth. Then turning about to the people, he says, 
^Orate Fratres, SfC? that is, 'Brethren, pray that 
my sacrifice and yours may be made acceptable 
in the sight of God the Father Almighty.' The 
clerk answers in the name of the people, 'May the 
Lord receive this sacrifice from thy hands, to the 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 127 

praise and glory of his own name, and for our 
Denefit, and tiiat of all his holy Church.' 

Eleventhly, then the priest says, in a low voice 
the prayers called the Secreta, which correspond 
to the collects of the day, and are different every 
day. He concludes, by saying aloud, ' Per omnia 
scecula sceculorum,'^ that is, ' World without end.' 
Answ. ' Amen.' Then, after the usual salutation 
'The Lord be with you.' Answ. 'And with thy 
spirit,' he admonishes the people to lift up their 
hearts to God (' Sursum corda"^) and to join with him 
in giving thanks to our Lord (' Gr atlas agamus Do- 
mino Deo nostro?) To which the clerk answers, 
' Dignum et ^justum est^ ' It is meet and just.' 
Then follows the Preface, so called because it 
serves as an introduction to the Canon of the Mass; 
in which, after solemnly acknow^ledging ourselves 
bound in duty ever to give thanks to God, through 
his Son Jesus Christ, whose majesty all the choirs 
of angels ever praise and adore, we humbly beg 
leave to have our voices admitted together with 
theirs in that celestial hymn, ' Sanctus, Sanctus, 
SfC? i. e. 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Ijord God of hosts. 
The heavens and earth are full of thy glory. 
Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he that comes 
in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.' 

Twelfthly, after the Preface follows the Canon 
of the Mass, or the most sacred or solemn part of 
this divine service, which is read with a low voice, 
as well to express the silence of Christ in his pas- 
sion, and his hiding at that time his glory and his 
divinity, as to signify the vast importance of that 
common cause of all mankind, which the priest is 
then representing as it were in secret to the ear 
of God, and the reverence and awe with which 
both priest and people ought to assist at these tre- 



128 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

mendous mysteries. The Canon begins by the 
invoking the Father of mercies, through Jusus 
Christ his Son, to accept this sacrifice for the 
holy Catholic Church, for the pope, for the bish- 
op, and for all the professors of the Catholic 
and Apostolic faith, throughout the whole world. 
Then follows the Memento^ or commemoration of 
the living for whom, in particular, the priest in- 
tends to offer up that Mass, or who have been par- 
ticularly recommended to his prayers, &;c. To 
which is subjoined a remembrance of all there pre- 
sent, followed by a solemn commemoration of the 
blessed Virgin, the Apostles and martyrs, and all 
the saints, to honour their memory; by naming 
them in the sacred mysteries, to communicate with 
them, and to beg of God the help of their inter- 
cession, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Then the priest spreads his liands over the bread 
and wine, which are to be consecrated into the 
body and blood of Christ, (according to the ancient 
ceremony prescribed in the Levitical law, Levit. i. 
3, 4. 16. that the priest or persons who offered 
sacrifice, should l%y their hands upon the victim, 
before it was immolated) and he begs that God 
would accept this oblation, which he makes in the 
name of the whole Church, and that he would 
grant us peace in this life, and eternal salvation in 
the next. Then he blesses the bread and wine 
with the sign of the cross (a ceremony frequently 
repeated in the Mass, in memory of Christ's pas- 
sion, of which this sacrifice in the memorial; and 
to give us to understand that all grace and sanctity 
flow from the cross of Christ, that is, from Christ 
crucified) and he prays that God would render this 
oblation blessed, received, approved, reasonable and 
acceptable, that it may be made to us the body 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 129 

and blood of his most beloved Son our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Then he proceeds to the consecration, 
first of the bread into the body of our Lord, and 
then of the wine into his blood; which consecration 
is made by the w^ords of Christ pronounced by the 
priest in his name, and as bearing his person: and 
this is the chief action of the Mass, in which the 
very essence of this sacrifice consists; because by 
the separate consecration of the bread and wine, 
the body and blood of Christ are really exhibited 
and presented to God, and Christ is mystically 
immolated. 

Immediately after the consecration follows the 
elevation, first of the host, then of the chalice, in 
remembrance of Christ's elevation upon the cross, 
and that the people may adore their Lord veiled 
under these sacred signs. At the elevation of the 
chalice, the priest recites these words of Christ, 
' As often as you shall do these things, you shall 
do them in remembrance of me.' Then he goes 
on making a solemn commemoration of the pas- 
sion, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and 
begging of God to accept this sacrifice, as he was 
pleased to accept the oblation of Abel, Abraham 
and Melchisedech ; and to command that it may, by 
his holy angel, be presented upon the altar above, 
in presence of his divine Majesty, for the benefit 
of all those that shall partake of these mysteries 
here below. 

Then the priest makes the Memento or remem- 
brance for the dead ; praying for all those that are 
gone before us with the sign of faith, and rest in 
the sleep of peace; and in particular for those for 
whom he desires to offer this sacrifice that God 
would grant them a place of refreshment, light 
and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Then 



130 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

1 1 raising his voice at Nobis quoque peccatorlbus, and 

SH to us sinners, &c. he strikes his breast, in token of 

repentance, like the humble publican in the gospel, 
and begs of God mercy and pardon, and to be ad- 
mitted into some part and society with the holy 
Apostles and martyrs, through Christ our Lord. 
He goes on, ' By whom, O Lord! thou dost always 
create, sanctify, enliven, bless and give us all these 
good things.' Then kneeling down, and taking . 
the sacred host in his hand, he makes the sign of 
j the cross with it over the chalice, saying, ' Through 

I him, and with him, and in him, is to thee, God the 

Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour 
and glory,' which last words he pronounces elevat- 
ing a little the host and chalice from the altar j and 
then kneels down, saying, with a loud voice, ' Per 
omnia scecula S(Eculorum? 'For ever and ever.' 
Answ. Amen. 

Thirteenthly, after this follows the ' Pater Nos- 
ier,'^ or ' Lord's Prayer,' which is pronounced with 
a loud voice; and in token of the people's joining 
in this prayer, the clerk in their name says aloud, 
jttjijl the last petition, ' Sed libera nos a malo^ 'But de- 

^ liver us from evil.' The priest answers, 'Amen:' 

and goes on with a low voice, begging that we 
may be delivered from all evils past, present and 
to come; and by the intercession of the blessed 
Virgin, and of all the saints, be favoured with 
peace in our days, and secured from sin and all dis- 
turbance, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Then 
he breaks the host, in imitation of Christ's break 
ing the bread before he gave it to his disciples, 
and in remembrance of his body being broken for 
us upon the cross; and puts a particle of it into the 
chalice, saying to the people. 'The peace of the 
Lord be always with you.' Answ. ' And with thy 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTUUCTED. 131 

spirit.' This ceremony of mixing a particle of the 
host with the species of wine in the chalice, repre- 
sents the re-uniting of Christ's body, blood and 
soul at his resurrection; and the priest's wish or 
prayer for peace, at the time of this ceremony, 
puts us in mind of that ' Pax vobis^ or ' Peace be 
unto you,' which our Lord spoke to his disciples 
when he first came to them after his resurrection, 
St. John XX. 19, 21, 26. 

Fourteenthly, then follows the ' Agnus Del, SfC? 
which the priest pronounces three times, striking 
his breast in token of repentance; the words are, 
' Lamb of God ! who takest away the sins of the 
world, have mercy on us.' At the third time, 
instead of have mercy on us, he says, ' grant us 
peace.' After the Agnus Dei, follow three pray- 
ers, which the priest says to himself by way of 
preparation for receiving the blessed sacrament. 
After which kneeling down, and then rising and 
taking up the blessed sacrament, he three times 
strikes his breast, saying, ' Domine non sum dignus, 
<|-c.' ^Lord! I am not worthy that thou shouldst 
enter under my roof; but only thou say the word, 
and my soul shall be healed.' Then receiving the 
sacred host, he says, 'The body of our Lord Jesus 
Christ preserve my soul to life everlasting. Amen.' 
Having paused a while, he proceeds to the receiv- 
ing of the chalice, using the like words, 'The 
blood of our tord Jesus Christ, &c.' Then follows 
the communion of the people, if any are to receive. 

Fifteenthly, after the communion, the priest 
takes first a little wine into the chalice, which is 
called the first ablution, in order to consummate 
what remains of the consecrated species in the 
chalice; and then takes a little wine and water, 
which is called the second ablution, upon his fin- 



132 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

gers, over the chalice, to the end that no particle 
of the blessed sacrament may remain sticking to 
his fingers, but that all may be washed into the 
chalice, and so received. Then wiping the chalice, 
and covering it, he goes to the book and reads a 
versicle of the holy scripture, called the Commu- 
nion, because it was used to be sung in the high 
Mass, at the time that the people communicated. 
After this, he turns about to the people with the 
usual salutation, Dominus vobiscum; and then re- 
turning to the book, reads the collects, or prayers 
called the Post-communion: after which he again 
greets the people with Dominus vobiscum; and gives 
them leave to depart, with ' Ite Missa est,'' i. e. ' Go 
the Mass is done.' Here, bowing before the altar, 
he makes a short prayer to the blessed Trinity; 
and then gives his blessing to all there present, in 
the name of the same blessed Trinity; ' Benedicat 
vos, (^c' ' May the Almighty God, the Father, ^ 
and the Son and the Holy Ghost, bless you.' He 
concludes by reading at the corner of the altar the 
beginning of the gospel according to St. John, 
which the people hear standing; but at these words 
' Verhum caro factum est,'' ' The Word was made 
flesh,' both priest and people kneel, in reverence to 
the mystery of Christ's incarnation. The clerk at 
the end answers 'Deo Gratias,"^ ^thanks be to God.' 
And then the priest departs from the altar, reciting 
to himself the Benedicite, or the canticle of the 
three children, inviting all creatures in heaven and 
earth to bless and praise our Lord. 

Q. In what manner ought the people to be em- 
ployed during the Mass? 

A, In such prayers and devotions as are most 
suitable to that holy sacrifice; which having so 
close a relation to the passion of Christ, is then 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRITCTED. 133 

best heard, when the assistants turn the attention 
and affections of their souls to^vards the mysteries 
of the passion of our Lord, which are there re- 
presented. 

Q. Is it not a good way of hearing Mass to 
accompany the priest through every part of it, so 
as to accommodate one's devotion to what he is 
then about? 

A, It is a very good and profitable way: not 
that the very prayers of the priest, especially in 
the Canon and Consecration, are always proper for 
the people, but that in every part of the Mass, it is 
proper that the people should use such prayers as 
are adapted to what the priest is then doing. 

Q. What kind of prayers and devotions then do 
you esteem the best adapted to the several parts of 
the Mass? 

A, I should recommend first, in the beginning 
of the Mass an earnest application of the soul to 
God, by way of begging his divine grace for the 
worthily and profitable assisting at this sacrifice. 

Secondly, at the Confiteor, and what follows, 
until the Kyrie Eleison inclusively, I should advise 
the assistants to an humble confession of their 
sins to God, with a most hearty repentance, and 
earnestly begging his mercy. 

Thirdly, at the Gloria in excelsis, let them join 
in that heavenly hymn, and excite their souls to 
the affections expressed therein. 

Fourthly, at the Collects, let them recommend 
to God, their own necessities, and those of the 
whole Church. 

Fifthly, at the Epistle, Gradual, and Gospel, 
either let them attend to the heavenly lessons 
contained in them; or, if they have not the con- 
renience for this let them employ themselves in 

12 



134 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

giving thanks to God for revealing to us his divine 
truths, and instructing us not only by his servants 
the prophets and Apostles, but also by his Son; and 
begging of God that their lives may be always 
conformable to the maxims of his gospel. 

Sixthly, at the Credo, let them recite it to them- 
selves, with a lively faith of the great truths con- 
tained in it. 

Seventhly, at the Offertory, let them join with the 
priest in offering up first the host, and then the cha- 
lice, for themselves and for the whole church; but 
let them at the same time unite themselves closely 
with their High Priest Christ Jesus, and with him, 
through him, and in him, offer up their hearts and 
souls to God, to be consecrated to his divine ser- 
vice, and changed into him; and in particular, at 
the mingling of the water with the wine in the cha- 
lice, let them pray for this happy union with God. 

Eighthly, at the Lavabo, when the priest washes 
his fingers at the corner of the altar, let them 
excite in their souls a hearty act of repentance, 
and beg to be washed from their sins in the blood 
of the Lamb. 

Ninthly, when the priest turns about and says. 
Orate Fratres, let them pray that God would 
accept of that oblation for his own honour and 
their salvation. 

Tenthly, at the Preface, let them raise up their 
hearts to God at Sursum Corda^ and pour forth 
their souls in thanksgiving to him; joining them- 
selves with the heavenly choirs, and with them 
humbly and fervently pronouncing that sacred 
hymn, ' Sanctus, &fc? 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord 
God of Hosts, &;c. 

Eleventhly, during the Canon of the Mass, let 
them, together with the priest, and together with 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 135 

the invisible priest Christ Jesus, offer up the sacri- 
fice for the four ends of the sacrifice, viz. first, for 
God's honour, adoration and glory. Secondly, in 
thanksgiving for all his benefits, and especially for 
our redemption through Jesus Christ. Thirdly, to 
obtain mercy and pardon through him for all their 
sins. Fourthly, to obtain all graces and blessings 
of which they stand in need. Let them all join in 
the solemn commemoration that is here made of 
the passion, resurrection and ascension of the Son 
of God, and of the glory of his church triumphant 
in heaven. 

Twelfthly, at the Memento for the living, let 
them earnestly recommend to God their parents, 
friends, benefactors, &;c. their superiors, spiritual 
and temporal; those that have particularly desired 
their prayers; those that are in agony, or other 
great necessities, temptation, or affliction; those 
to whom they have given scandal or ill example; 
their enemies, and all unbelievers and sinners, that 
God may convert them; in fine, all true servants 
of God, and all such for whom God w^ould have 
them to pray. 

Thirteenthly, at the Consecration and Elevation, 
let them again offer themselves to God with and 
through Christ, and with all the reverence of their 
souls adore their Lord there really present under 
the sacramental veils. 

Fourteenthly, at the Memento for the dead, let 
them represent to the eternal Father this victim 
which takes away the sins of the world, in behalf 
of all the faithful departed in the communion of 
the church, and particularly of their relations, 
friends, &c. and those who stand most in need of 
prayers, or for whom God is best pleased that 
they should pray. 



136 CATHOLIC CHEISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Fifteenthly, at the Pater Noster, let them join in 
that heavenly prayer; begging in the first petition 
(Hallowed by thy name) the honour and glory of 
God's name; in the second petition, the propaga- 
tion of his kingdom here upon earth, and that they 
may have a sh^re in his kingdom in heaven; in 
ihe third petition, the perfect accomplishment of 
his will by all, and in all:, in the fourth, the parti- 
cipation of the bread of life; in the fifth, the for- 
giveness of their sins; in the sixth, the grace of 
God against temptations; and in the seventh, a 
deliverance from all evils. 

Sixteenthly, at the breaking of the host, let 
them remember Christ's body broken for them 
upon the cross, and let them pray for that peace 
which the priest wishes them, with God, with their 
neighbours, and with themselves. 

Seventeenthly, at Agnus Dei, SfC, let them, in 
the spirit of humility and contrition, beg mercy 
and pardon for their sins. 

Eighteenthly, during the following prayers, and 
whilst the priest is receiving, let them make a 
spiritual communion, first, by a lively faith, of the 
real presence of the Lamb of God slain for our 
sins, and of the abundance of grace which he brings 
to those that receive him worthily. Secondly, by 
an ardent desire of partaking of this life giving 
food. Thirdly, by humbly acknowledging at the 
Domine non sum dignus, and heartily bewailing 
their unworthiness and sins, which hinder them 
from daring to approach to this heavenly table. 
Fourthly, by fervent prayer, begging that Christ 
would communicate to them some share in those 
graces which he brings with him to the worthy 
receiver, and that he would come at least spiritual- 
ly to their souls, and take possession of them, and 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 137 

unite them to himself by an indissoluble band of 
love. 

Ninteenthly, after the communion, let them re- 
turn thanks to God for the passion and death of his 
Son, and for having been permitted to assist at 
these divine mysteries; let them receive with hu- 
mility the benediction given by the priest in the 
name of the blessed Trinity; let them beg pardon 
for their negligences and distractions; and so offer- 
ing themselves and all their undertakings to God, 
depart in peace. 

Q. What advice would you give to those who 
through indisposition, or other unavoidable impe- 
diments, are not able to assist at Mass upon a Sun- 
day or Holiday. 

A, I would advise them to endeavour to hear 
Mass at least in spirit, according to the method 
prescribed by Mr. Gother, for the absent, in the 
little book of instructions and devotions for hear- 
ing Mass. 

Q. What if a person, through the absolute ne- 
cessity of his unhappy circumstances, should be 
tied to a place where he can never hear Mass, do 
you think he might not then be allowed to join in 
prayer with those of another communion, by way 
of supplying this defect? 

A. No certainly. It is a misfortune, and a great 
misfortune, to be kept like David, when he was 
persecuted by Saul, at a distance from the temple 
of God, and his sacred mysteries; but it would be a 
crime to join one's self upon that account with an 
heretical or schismatical congregation, whose wor- 
ship God rejects as sacrilegious and impious. In 
such a case therefore a christian must serve his 
God alone to the best of his power, by offering 
to him the homage of prayer, adoration, contri- 

12* 



138 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

tion, &c. and must frequently hear Mass in spirit, 
by joining himself with all the faithful throughout 
the earth, wherever they are offering to God that 
divine sacrifice; ever sighing after these heavenly 
mysteries, and praying for his delivery from that 
Babylon, which keeps him at a distance from the 
temple of God. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OF THE SAYING MASS IN LATIN. 

Q. Is it not a great prejudice to the faithful 
that the Mass is said in Latin, which is a language 
that the generality of them do not understand? 

A, It is no prejudice to them at all, provided 
they be well instructed in the nature of this sacri- 
fice, and taught (as we have explained above) how 
to accompany the priest with prayers and devo- 
tions adapted to every part of the Mass; such as 
they commonly have in their manuals or other 
prayer-books. Hence it is visible to any unpreju- 
diced eye, that there is far more devotion amongst 
Catholics at Mass, than there is at Protestants' 
common-prayer. 

Q. But is not the Mass also a common-prayer, 
that ought to be said alike by the faithful? 

A. It is a common sacrifice that is offered for 
all, and in some manner by all; but as for the par- 
ticular form of prayers used by the priest in the 
Mass, there is no obligation for the faithful to re- 
cite the same; all that God or his church expects 
from them is to assist at that sacrifice with atten- 
tion and devotion; and this they fully comply with, 
when they endeavour to follow the directions given 
above, and use such prayers as are adapted to each 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 139 

part of the Mass; though they be not the self-same 
as the priest uses. 

. Q. Can you explain to me, by some example, 
how a person may devoutly and profitably assist 
at this sacrifice, though he be ignorant of the 
prayers which the priest is saying? 

A. Yes: What do you think if you or any good 
christian had been present upon Mount Calvary, 
when Christ was offering himself upon the cross a 
sacrifice for the sins of the whole world; would not 
the very sight of what was doing (provided that 
you had the same faith in Christ as you have) 
have sufficed to excite in your soul most lively 
acts of love of God, thanksgiving for so great a 
mercy, detestation of your sins, &c. though you 
could neither hear any word from the mouth of 
Christ your high-priest, nor know in particular 
what passed in his soul? Just so in the Mass, 
which is the same sacrifice as that which Christ 
ofibred upon the cross, because both the priest and 
the victim are the same; it is abundantly sufficient 
for the people's devotion, to be well instructed in 
what is then doing, and to excite in their souls 
suitable acts of adoration, thanksgiving, repen- 
tance, &;c. though they understand not the parti- 
cular prayers used by the priest at that time. 

I must add, that for the devoutly and profitably 
concurring in sacrifice offered to God, it is not 
even necessary that the people should hear or re- 
cite the same prayers with the priest, but that the 
very seeing of him is more than God was pleased 
to require in his law. Hence we find, St. Luke i. 
10. that the whole multitude of the people were 
praying without, when Zacharias went into the 
temple to burn incense. And Levit. xvi. 17. it 
was expressly ordered, that there should be no 



140 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

man in the tabernacle or temple, when the high- 
priest went with the blood of the victims into the 
sanctuary to make atonement. 

Q. But does not St. Paul, 1 Cor. xiv. condemn 
the use of the unknown tongues in the liturgy of 
the church? 

A, He has not one word in that whole chapter 
of the liturgy of the church; but only reprehends 
the abuse of the gifts of tongues, which some 
amongst the Corinthians were guilty of, who out 
of ostentation affected to make exhortations or 
extemporary prayers in their assemblies, in lan- 
guages utterly unknown, which for want of a» 
interpreter could be of no edification to the rest of 
the faithful. But this is far from being the prac 
tice of the catholic church, where all the exhorta 
tions, sermons and such like instructions are made 
in the vulgar language; where no new unknown 
extemporary prayers are recited, but the ancient 
public liturgy and office of the church, which, by 
long use are well known, at least as to the sub- 
stance, by all the faithful; where, in fine, there 
is no want of interpreters, since the people have 
the church offices interpreted into their ordinary 
prayer-books; and the pastors are commanded to 
explain to them the mysteries contained in the 
Mass. Council of Trent, Sess. 22. chap. 8. 

Q. But why does the church celebrate the Mass 
in Latin, rather than in vulgar language? 

A. First, because it is her ancient language, 
used in all her sacred offices even from the Apos- 
tles' days throughout all the western parts of the 
world: and therefore the church which hates no | 
velty, desires to celebrate her liturgy in the same 
language, as the saints have done for so many 
ages. Secondly, for a greater uniformity in the 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED, 141 

public worship; that so a christian, in whatsoever 
country he chances to be, may still find the liturgy 
performed in the same manner, and in the same 
language to which he is accustomed at home : and 
the Latin is certainly of all languages, the most 
proper for this, as being the most universally stud- 
ied and known. Thirdly, to avoid the changes, to 
which all vulgar languages, as we find by expe- 
rience, are daily exposed. For the church is un- 
willing to be chopping and changing her liturgy at 
every turn of language. 

Q. Have any other christians besides Roman- 
catholics ever celebrated their liturgy in a lan- 
guage which the greater part of the people did 
not understand? 

A, Yes: it is the practice of the Greeks, as we 
learn from Alex. Ross, in his View of the Reli- 
gions of Europe p. 481; and Mr. Breerwood in his 
Enquiries, chap. 2. p. 12. It is the practice of all 
other sects of christians in the east and south, viz. 
of the Armenians, of the Syrians, of the Nestorians, 
of the Cophts or Egyptians, of the Abyssinians or 
Ethiopians, who all use in their liturgies their an- 
cient languages, which have long since ceased to 
be understood by the people: as we learn from 
Monsieur Renaudot in his Dissertation upon the 
Oriental Liturgies; chap. 6. And as for Protes- 
tants, we learn from Dr. Heylins' History of the 
Reformation, p. 128, &;c. that in queen Eliza- 
beth's time, " The Irish parliament passed an act 
for the uniformity of common-prayer; with per- 
mission of saying the same in Latin, where the 
minister had not the knowledge of the English 
tongue. But for transtating it into Irish there 
was no care taken. The people are required by 
that statute, under several penalties to frequent 



i 



142 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

their churches, and to be present at the reading 
the English liturgy, which they understood no 
more than they do the Mass. By which means, 
we have furnished the Papists with an excellent 
argument against ourselves, for having the divine 
service celebrated in such a language as the peo 
pie do not understand." Thus Dr. Heylin. 



CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE! OF CONFESSION, AND 
THE PREPARATION FOR IT ! OF ABSOLUTION, ETC. 

Q. What do you mean by a sacrament of 
penance? 

A, An institution of Christ, by which our sins 
are forgiven, which we fall into after baptism. 

Q. In what does this institution consist? 

A. On the part of the penitent it consists in 
these three things, viz. contrition, confession, and 
satisfaction ; and on the part of the minister, in the 
absolution pronounced by the authority of Jesus 
Christ. So that penance is sl sacrament by which 
the faithful, that have fallen into sins, confessing 
the same with a true repentance, and a sincere 
purpose of making satisfaction to God, are absolv 
ed from their sins by the ministers of God. 

Q. How do you prove that the ministers of God 
have any such power as to absolve sinners from 
their sins? 

A, I prove it from St. John xx. 22, 23. whero 
Christ said to his ministers, 'Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost, whosesoever sins ye forgive they are for- 
given unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain 
they are retained.' And St. Matt, xviii. 18. 'Ver- 
ily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 143 

earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever 
ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

Q. But was this power given to any besides the 
Apostles? 

A. It was certainly given to them and to their 
successors till the end of the world; no less than 
tha commission of preaching, baptizing, &;c. which, 
though addressed to the Apostles, was certainly 
designed to continue with their successors, the pas- 
tors of the church for ever, according to that of 
Christ, Matt, xxviii. 20. "Lo I am with you al- 
ways even till the end of the world.' And so the 
Protestant church uuderstands these texts, in the 
order for the visitation of the sick, in the common 
prayer-book, where she prescribes a form of abso- 
lution the same in substance as that used in the 
Catholic Church, viz. 

^Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to 
his Church to absolve all sinners, who truly repent 
and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive 
thee thine offences: and by his authority commit- 
ted to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen.' 

Q. Is it then your doctrine that any man can 
forgive sins? 

A. We do not believe that any man can forgive 
sins by his own power, as no man by his own 
power can raise the dead to life : because both the 
one and the other equally belong to the power of 
God. But as God has oometimes made men his 
|instruments in raising the dead to life; so we be- 
'deve that he has been pleased to appoint that his 
ministers should in virtue of his commission, as his 
instruments, and by his power, absolve repenting 
sinners: and as this is evident from the texts above 



144 CATHOLIC CHKISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

quoted, it must be false zeal, under pretext of 
maintaining the honour of God, to contradict this 
commission which he has so evidently given to 
his Church. 

Q. But will not sinners thus be encouraged to go 
on in their evil ways, upon the confidence of being 
absolved by the pastors of the Church, whenever 
they please, from their sins? 

A. The pastors of the Church have no power to 
absolve any one without a sincere repentance, and 
a firm purpose of a new life; and therefore, the 
Catholic doctrine of absolution, can be no encou- 
ragement to any man to go on in his sins. 

Q. What then is required on the part of the 
sinner in order to obtain forgiveness of his sins in 
the sacrament of penance? 

A. Three things, viz. contrition, confession, and 
satisfaction. By contrition, we mean, 'a, hearty 
sorrow for having offended so good a God, with a 
firm purpose of amendment.' By confession we 
mean, 'a full and sincere accusation made to God's 
minister, of all mortal sins, which after a diligent 
examination of conscience, a person can call to his 
remembrance.' By satisfaction, we mean, ' a faith- 
ful performance of the penance enjoined by the 
priest.' 

Q. What preparation then do you recommend 
before confession, in order to discharge one's self 
well of this important duty? 

A. A person that is preparing himself for con- 
fession has four things to do before he goes to con- 
fession. First, he must pray earnestly to God for 
his divine grace, that he may be enabled to make 
a true and good confession. Secondly, he must 
carefully examine his own conscience, in order to 
find out what sins he has committed, and how often. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTEUCTED. 145 

Thirdly, he must take due time and pains to beg 
God's pardon, and to procure a hearty sorrow for 
his sins. Fourthly, he must make firm resolutions 
with God's grace to avoid the like sins for the 
future, and to fly the immediate occasions of them. 

Q. Why must he begin his preparation by pray- 
ing earnestly to God for his divine grace? 

A. Because a good confession is a work of the 
utmost importance, and withal a difficult task, by 
reason of the pride of our hearts, and that fear and 
shame which are natural to us, and which the devil, 
who is a mortal enemy to confession, seeks to im- 
prove with all his power. And therefore a Chris- 
tian that desires to make a good confession, ought 
in the first place to address himself to God by fer- 
vent prayer for his divine assistance. And the 
more he finds the enemy busy to instil into him an 
unhappy fear or shame, the more earnestly must 
he implore the mercy and grace of God upon this 
occasion. 

Q. In what manner must a person examine his 
conscience in order to make a good confession? 

A. He must use a moral diligence to find out 
the sins he has committed; which requires more 
or less time and care, according to the length of 
?rme from his last confession, and the greater or 
■ess care that he usually takes to the state of his 
conscience. The common method of examination 
IS 10 consider what one has done against any of 
tne commandments of God; what neglects there 
may have been of Church precept; how one baa 
discharged one's self of the common duties of a 
Christian, and of the particular duties of one's 
respective station of life; how far one has been 
guilty of any of the seven sins, which are com- 
monly called capital, because they are the springs 

13 



146 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

or fountains from whence all our sins flow, &c. 
And for the helping of a person's memory in this 
regard, the table of sins which is found in the 
manual or other prayer-books may be of no small 
service. 

Q. Is a person to examine himself as to the 
number of times that he has been guilty of this or 
that sin? 

A, Yes: because he is obliged to confess, as near 
as he can, the number of his sins. But in sins of 
habit, which have been of long standing and very 
numerous, it will be enough to examine and con- 
fess the length of time that he has been subject to 
such a sin, and how many times he has fallen into 
it, in a d»y^, in a week or month, one time with 
another. 

Q. What method do you prescribe to a person, 
in order to procure that hearty sorrow for sin, 
which is the most necessary part of the prepara- 
tion for confession? 

A, The best method to procure it is to beg it 
heartily of God; for it must be his gift. None but 
God can give that change of heart, which is so 
essential to a good confession, and he has been 
pleased to promise, St. Matt. vii. 7. 'Ask and it 
shall be given you : seek and ye shall find : knock 
and it shall be opened unto you.' To this end 
also pious meditation and considerations, and de- 
vout acts of contrition, which are found in books 
of devotion, will much contribute, if read leisurely 
and attentively, so as to sink into the heart. But 
because many persons content themselves with run- 
ning over in haste the Prayers before Confession, 
which they meet with in their books, with little or 
no change in the heart, which perhaps, is grown 
hard by sinful habits, it is to be feared their per- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 147 

formances are too often nothing worth in the sight 
of God. 

Q. What then do you advise in the case of 
habitual sinners, in order to procure a true change 
of heart? 

-4. I advise them to a spiritual retreat for some 
days, in which being retired as much as possible 
from the noise of the world, they may think of the 
great truths of religion, of the end for which they 
came into this world, of the benefits of God, of the 
enormity of sin, of the sudden passing away of all 
that this world admires, of the four last things, of 
the passion of Christ, &;c. that so the serious con- 
siderations of these great truths, joined to retire- 
ment and prayer, may make a due impression on 
their hearts, and effectually convert them to God. 
Those whose circumstances will not permit them 
to make a regular^retreat, may at least endeavour 
during some days to think as often and as serious- 
ly as they can upon the truths above-mentioned; 
and by frequently and fervently calling upon the 
Father of mercies, in the midst of all their employ- 
ments, may hope to procure to themselves the like 
grace. 

Q. What must be the chief motive of a sinner's 
sorrow and repentance, in order to qualify him for 
absolution? 

A. Divines are not perfectly agreed in the reso- 
lution of this query; but all are perfectly agreed 
in advising every one to aim at the best motive 
he can; and that the best and safest way is to 
renounce and detest our sins for the love of God 
above all things. 

Q. What do you mean by the resolution of 
amendment, which you suppose to be a necessary 
ingredient in the preparation for confession? 



148 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A. I mean a full determination of the soul to 
fly for the future all wilful sin, and the immediate 
occasions of it. 

Q. What do you mean by the immediate occa- 
sions of sin? 

A, All such company, places, employment, diver- 
sions, books, &;c. which are apt to draw a person 
to mortal sin, either in deed, word, or in thought. 

Q. And is a person indispensably obliged to 
avoid all such immediate occasions of sin? 

A, He is obliged to avoid them to the very 
utmost of his power, according to that gospel-rule 
of parting even with a hand or an eye, that is an 
occasion of offence to the soul, St. Matt, xviii. 8, 9. 

Q. What scripture do you bring to recommend 
the confession of our sins to Gfod's ministers? 

A, First, the precept of God in the Old Testa- 
ment, Numb. V. 6, 7. 'When a man or woman 
shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a 
trespass against the Lord, and that person be 
guilty, then they shall confess their sin which 
they have done, &c.' Secondly, the example of 
the people that hearkened to the preaching of St. 
John the Baptist, who were baptized by him, 'con- 
fessing their sins,' St. Matt. iii. 6. Thirdly, the 
prescription of St. James v. 16. 'Confess your sins 
one to another;' that is, to the priests, or elders of 
the church, whom the Apostle had ordered to be 
called for, v. 14. Fourthly, the practice. of the 
first christians, Acts xix. 18. 'Many that believed 
came, and confessed and declared their deeds.' 

Q. How do you prove that there is any com 
mand of Christ, for the confession of our sins to 
his ministers? 

A, I prove it from the commission which Christ 
has given to his ministers, St. John xx. 22, 23. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 149 

* Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins 
you remit they are remitted unto them, and whose 
soever sins you retain, they are retained.' And 
St. Matt, xviii. 18. 'Verily 1 say unto you, what- 
soever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in 
heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on earth 
shall be loosed in heaven.' For it is visible, that 
this commission of binding or loosing, forgiving or 
retaining sins, according to the merits of the cause 
and the disposition of the penitent, cannot be right- 
ly executed without taking cognizance of the state 
of the soul of him who desires to be absolved from 
his sins by virtue of this commission; and conse- 
quently cannot be rightly executed without con- 
fession. So that we conclude with St. Augustine,* 
that to pretend it is enough to confess to God alone, 
is making void the power of the keys given to the 
church, St. Matt. xvi. 19; that it is contradicting 
the gospel, and making void the commission of 
Christ. 

Q. Are christians then obliged to confess all 
their sins to the ministers of Christ? 

A. They are obliged to confess all such sins as 
are mortal, or of which they have reason to doubt, 
lest they may be mortal ; but they are not obliged 
to confess venial sins, because as these do not ex- 
clude eternally from the kingdom of heaven, so 
there is not a strict obligation of having recourse 
for the remission of them to the keys of the 
Church. 

Q. But by what rule shall a person be able to 
make a judgment whether his sins be mortal or 
venial? 

A, All those sins are to be esteemed mortal 

* Homil. 49. Inter. 50. 
13* 



150 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

which the word of God represents to us as hateful 
to God, against which he pronounces a woe, or of 
which it declares that such as do those things shall 
not enter into the kingdom of heaven : of these we 
have many instances, Rom. i. 29, 30, 31. 1 Cor. 
vi. 9, 10. Galat. v. 19, 20, 21. Ephes. v. 5. Apo- 
calypse xxi. 8. and in the Old Testament, Isai. v. 
Ezek. xviii., &c. But though it be very easy to 
know that some sins are mortal, and others but 
venial, yet to pretend to be able always perfectly 
to distinguish which are mortal and which are not, 
is above the reach of the most able divines; and 
therefore a prudent Christian will not easily pass 
over sins in confession, under pretence of their 
being venial, unless he be certain of it. And this 
caution is more particularly necessary in certain 
cases, where persons being - ashamed to confess 
their sins, are willing to persuade themselves they 
are but venial; for in such cases it is much to be 
feared, lest their self-love should bias their judg- 
ment. 

Q. Is it a great crime to conceal, through shame 
or fear, any mortal sin in confession? 

A. Yes, it is a great crime; because it is telling 
a lie to the Holy Ghost; for which kind of sin 
Ananias and Saphira were struck dead, by a just 
judgment of God, Acts v. It is acting deceitfully 
with God, and that in a matter of the utmost con- 
sequence. It is a sacrilege, because it is an abuse 
of the sacrament of penance, and is generally fol- 
lowed by another greater sacrilege in receiving 
unworthily the body and blood of Christ. And 
what is still more dreadful, such sinners seldom 
stop at the first bad confession and communion, but 
usually go on for a long time in these sins, and 
very often die in them. But it is not only a great 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 151 

t^rime to conceal orles's sins in confession, it is a 
great folly and madness too; because, such offend- 
ers, if they have not renounced their faith, know 
very well that these sins must be confessed, or 
that they must burn for them; and they cannot be 
ignorant, that these bad confessions do but increase 
their burthen, by adding to it the dreadful guilt of 
repeated sacrileges, which they will have far more 
difficulty of confessing, than these very sins of 
which they are now so much ashamed. 

Q. Have you any instances in Church-History, 
of remarkable judgments of God, upon those that 
have presumed to approach to the blessed sacra- 
ment, without making a sincere confession of 
their sins? 

A, Yes, we have several recorded by St. Cy- 
prian, (L. de Lapsis) and other grave authors; but 
the most common, and indeed the most dreadful 
punishment of these sins, is a blindness and hard- 
ness of heart, which God justly permits such sin- 
ners to fall into, and which is the broad road to 
final impenitence. 

Q. Have you any things to offer by way of 
encouragement to sinners to confess their sins 
sincerely? 

A. Yes; first, the great benefit that their souls 
will reap in the remission of their sins, promised 
by Christ, St. Matt, xviii. 18. and St. John xx. 22. 
23. and the other advantages which an humble 
confession of sins brings along with it: such as a 
present comfort and ease of conscience, a remedy 
against future sins, directions and prescriptions 
from the minister of God, for the curing the spir- 
itual maladies of the soul, &;c. Secondly, that by 
this short passing confusion, which will last but a 
moment, they will e'scape the dreadful shame of 



152 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

having their sins written on their foreheads at the 
last day to their eternal confusion. Thirdly, that 
the greater their sins have been, the greater will 
be the joy, as of the whole court of heaven, so of 
their confessor here upon earth, to see their sin- 
cere conversion to God testified by the humble con- 
fession of their shameful sins:. upon which account, 
so far from thinking worse of them he will con- 
ceive far greater hopes of their future progress, 
and a more tender affection for them. Fourthly, 
that by the law of God and his Church, whatever 
is declared in confession can never be discovered 
directly or indirectly to any one, upon any account 
whatsoever, but remains an eternal secret betwixt 
God and the penitent soul; of which the confessor 
cannot, even to save his own life, make any use at 
all to the penitent's discredit, disadvantage or any 
other grievance whatsoever. Vide Becretum In- 
nocentli XL die 18. Novemb, Anno 1682. 

Q. But suppose it has been the sinner's misfor- 
tune to have made a bad confession, or perhaps a 
great many bad confessions, what must he do to 
repair this fault, and to reinstate himself in God's 
grace? 

A, He must apply himself to God by hearty 
prayer for his grace and mercy; and so prepare 
himself to make a good general confession of all 
his sins, at least from the time of his going astray: 
because all the confessions that he has made since 
he began to conceal his sins were all sacrilegious, 
and consequently null and invalid; and therefore 
must be all repeated again. 

Q. But is he obliged in this case to confess agaij 
those sins which he has confessed before? 

A. He is, because the concealing of any one 
mortal sin in confession makfes the whole confes 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 153 

sion nothing worth; and all the following confes- 
sions, until this fault is repaired, are all null; and 
therefore they must all be made again. But if it 
be to the same confessor, who has a confused re- 
membrance of the sins before confessed, it may 
suffice for the penitent to accuse himself in general 
f^ terms of all that has been confessed before; and 
then to specify in particular the sins that have 
been omitted, together with the number of the bad 
confessions and communions that have been made 
by him. 

Q. Are there any other cases in which the con- 
fession is nothing worth, and consequently must be 
made again, besides this case of concealing mortal 
Bin? 

A, Yes, if the penitent has taken no care to 
examine his conscience, or to procure the neces- 
sary sorrow for his sins, or a true purpose of 
amendment, his confession is good for nothing, and 
must be repeated; and also, if the priest to whom 
he has made his confession has not had the nece^ 
sary faculties and approbation. 

Q. What if the penitent, through forget fulness, 
pass over some mortal sin in confession? 

A. This omission, provided there was no con- 
siderable negligence which gave occasion to it, does 
not make the confession invalid. But then the sin 
that has been thus omitted must be confessed after- 
wards, when the penitent remembers it: and if he 
remembers it before communion, it ought to be con- 
fessed before he goes to communion; if he remem- 
J^ers it not till after communion, he must confess it 
in the next confession. 

Q. Is a person obliged to confess the circum- 
stances of his sms? 

A» He is obliged to confess such circumstances 



154 CATHOLIC CHKISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

as alter the kind or nature of the sin; and also, 
such as notably aggravate the guilt j but in modest 
and decent terms, particularly in confessing .the 
circumstances of sins against chastity. 

Q. Would it be a crime to neglect the penance 
or satisfaction enjoined by the priest? 

A Yes it would ; the more because we ought to 
regard the penance enjoined as an exchange which 
God makes of the eternal punishments, which we 
have deserved by sin, into these small penitential 
works. 

Q. Has the Church of God always enjoined pe- 
nances to sinners? 

A, Yes, she has, and in the primitive times much 
more severe than now-a-days, when three, seven or 
ten years of penance used to be imposed for sins 
of impurity, perjury, &c. 

Q. Does the Church at present approve of giving 
ordinarily very slight penances for very great sins? 

A. So far from it, that the Council of Trent, 
Sess. 14. chap. 8. gives us to understand, that a 
confessor, by such excessive indulgence, is in dan- 
ger of drawing upon his own head the guilt of his 
penitent's sins, and declares that a priest ought to 
enjoin a suitable penance according to the quality 
of the crime and the penitent's ability. 

Q. Ought the penitent to content himself with 
performing the penance enjoined, so as to take no 
farther thought about making satisfaction to God 
for his sins? 

A. No, by no means; for it is to be feared, that 
the penance enjoined is seldom sufficient to take off 
all the punishment due to God's justice upon ac- 
count of our sins; and it is certain, that the more a 
penitent is touched with a hearty sorrow for his 
offences against God, the more he will be desirous 



;i 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 155 

of making satisfaction, and revenging upon him- 
self by penitential severities the injury done to 
God by his sins. Hence the life of a good Chris- 
tian ought to be a perpetual penance. 

Q. What then do you recommend to a penitent, 
besides the performance of his penance, in order 
to cancel the punishment due to his sins, and to 
make satisfaction to the divine Justice? 

A. I recommend to him, first, ever to maintain 
in himself a penitential spirit, and in that spirit 
to perform all his prayer; daily offering up to 
God the sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart. 
Secondly, I recommend to him alms-deeds, both 
corporal and spiritual, according to his ability. 
Thirdly, fasting and other mortifications, especial- 
ly the retrenching all superfluities in eating, drink- 
ing, and sleeping; all unnecessary diversions, and 
much more all such as are dangerous; all idle 
curiosity, vanity, &c. Fourthly, 1 recommend to 
him to have recourse to indulgences, and to per- 
form with religious exactitude the conditions there- 
unto required. Fifthly, in fine, I recommend to 
him to take from the hands of God, in part of pe- 
nance for his sins, all sicknesses, pains, labours, 
and all other crosses whatsoever, and daily to ofl!er 
them up to God, to be united to and sanctified by 
the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ. 

Q. What is the form and manner of confession? 

A, The penitent, having duly prepared himself 
by prayer, by a serious examination of his con- 
science, and a hearty contrition for his sins, kneels 
down at the confession chair on one side of the 
priest, and making the sign of the cross upon him- 
self, asks the priest's blessing, saying, ' Pray, Fa- 
ther! give me your blessing.' Then the priest 
blesses him in the following words: 'The Lord be 



156 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

in thy heart, and in thy lips, that thou mayst truly 
and* humbly confess all thy sins, in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 
Amen.' After which the penitent says the Con- 
fiteor, in Latin, or in English, as far as Med Cul- 
pa^ ^*c. and then accuses himself of all his sins 
as to the kind, number, and aggravating circum* 
stances; and concludes with this or the like form: 
'Of these, and all other sins of my whole life, I 
humbly accuse myself; I am heartily sorry for them, 
1 beg pardon of God, and penance and absolution of 
you, my ghostly father.' And so he finishes the 
Confiteor, ' Therefore, I beseech thee, &c.' And 
then attends to the instructions given by the priest, 
and humbly accepts the penance enjoined. 

Q. What is the form of absolution? 

A, First, the priest says: 'May the Almighty 
God have mercy on thee, and forgive thee thy 
sins, and bring thee to life everlasting. Amen.' 

Then stretching forth his right hand towards the 
penitent, he says, ' Ma^ the Almighty and merciful 
Lord give thee pardon, absolution and remission 
of thy sins. Amen.' 

'Our Lord Jesus Christ absolve thee, and I, by 
his authority, absolve thee, in the first place, from 
every bond of excommunication or interdict, as far 
as I have power, and thou standest in need : in the 
next place, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the 
name of the Father, ►J* and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen.' 

' May the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
merits of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of all the 
saints, and whatsoever good thou shalt do, or what- 
soever evil thou shalt suffer, be to thee unto the 
remission of thy sins, the increase of grace, and 
the recompence of everlasting life. Amen.' 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 157 

Q. In what case is a confessor to defer or deny 
absolution? 

A» The rule of the Church is to defer absolu- 
tion, excepting the case of necessity, to those of 
whose disposition the confessor has just cause to 
doubt, and to deny absolution to those who are cer- 
tainly indisposed for it; which is the case of all 
such as refuse to forgive their enemies, or to re- 
store ill-gotten goods, or to forsake the habits or 
immediate occasions of sin, or, in a word to com- 
ply with any part of their duty, to which they are 
obliged under mortal sin. RU» Rom. de Sacramento 
Pcenitentice, 

Q. How do you prove, from all that has been 
said, that penance, i. e. the confession and absolu- 
tion of sinners, is properly a sacrament? 

A. Because it is an outward sign of inward 
grace, ordained by Jesus Christ; which is the very 
notion and definition of a sacrament: the outward 
sign is found in the sinner's confession, and the 
form of absolution pronounced by the priest; the 
inward grace is the remission of sins promised by 
Jesus Christ, St. John xx, 22, 23. and the ordi- 
nance of Christ is gathered from the san>e place, 
and from St. Matt, xviii. 18. 



CHAPTER X. 

OF INDULGENCES AND JUBILEES. 

Q. What do you mean by indulgences? 

A. There is not any part of the doctrine of the 
Catholic Church that is more grossly misrepre- 
sented by our adversaries than this of indulgences, 
for the generality of Protestants imagine, that an 
indulgence is a leave to commit sin, or at least, 

14 



158 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

that it is a pardon for sins lo come; whereas, ir 
deed, it is no such thing. There is no such powe* 
in heaven or earth that can give leave to commit 
sin; and consequently there is no giving pardon 
beforehand for sins to come. All this is far from 
the belief and practice of the Catholic Church. 
By an indulgence, therefore, we mean no more 
than a releasing to true penitents the debt of tem- 
poral punishment, which remained due to their 
sins, after the sins themselves, as to the guilt and 
eternal punishment, had been already remitted by 
the sacrament of penance, or by perfect contrition. 

Q. Be pleased to explain this a little farther? 

A. That you may understand this the better, 
take notice, that in sin there are two things; there 
is the guilt of the sin, and there is the debt of the 
punishment due to God upon account of the sin. 
Now upon the sinner's repentance and confession, 
the sin is remitted as to the guilt, and likewise as 
to the eternal punishment in hell, due to every 
mortal sin,; but the repentance and conversion are 
seldom so perfect as to release the sinner from all 
debt of temporal punishment due to God's justice, 
which the penitent must either discharge by the 
way of satisfaction .' ' penance; or, if he be defi- 
cient therein, he n / . expect to suffer hereafter, 
in proportion to this debt which he owes to the 
divine Majesty. Nt)w an indulgence, when duly 
obtained, is a release from this debt of temporal 
punishment. 

Q, liow do you prove, that after the guilt of sin 
and the eternal punishment have been remitted, 
there remains oftentimes a debt of temporal pun- 
ishment due to the divine Justice? 

A. I prove it, first, from scripture; where to 
omit other instances, we find in the case of David, 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 159 

2 Sam. xii. that although upon his repentance the 
prophet Nathan assured him, v. 13. that the Lord 
hath put away his sin, yet he denounced unto him 
many temporal punishments, which should be in- 
flicted by reason of this sin: which accordingly 
after ensued. See v. 10, 11, 12, 13. Secondly, I 
prove it from the perpetual practice of the Church 
of God, of enjoining penances to the repenting sin- 
ners, in order to cancel this punishment due to 
their sins. 

Q. How do you prove, that the Church has 
received a power from Christ of discharging a 
penitent sinner from this debt of temporal punish- 
ment, which remains due upon account of his sins? 

A. I prove it by that promise of our Lord made 
to St. Peter, St. Matt. xvi. 19. 'I will give unto 
thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and what- 
soever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in 
heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth 
shall be loosed in heaven.' Which promise, made 
without any exception, reservation or limitation, 
must needs imply a power of loosing or releasing 
all such bonds as might likewise, hinder or retard 
a Christian soul from entering heaven. 

Q. Did the primitive Church ever practise any 
;hing of this nature? 

A, Yes, very frequently, in discharging peni 
tents, when there appeared just cause for it, from 
a great part of the penance due to their sins as 
may be seen in Tertullian, St. Cyprian, and other 
ancient monuments: and of this nature, was what 
St. Paul himself practised in forgiving, as he says, 
2 Cor. ii. 10. in the person of Christ — that is, by 
the power and authority received from him, — the 
incestuous Corinthian, without waiting his going 
through a longer course of penance. 



160 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. But were these primitive indulgences under- 
stood to release the punishment due to sin in the 
sight of God, or only that which was enjoined in 
the Church in her penitential canons? 

A, Both one and the other, as often as they were 
granted upon a just cause: according to what our 
Lord has promised St. Matt, xviii. 18. 'Verily I 
say upon you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth, 
shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you 
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' 

Q. What conditions are necessary for the valid- 
ity of an indulgence? 

A. First, on the part of him that grants the in- 
dulgence, besides sufficient authority, il is neces- 
sary that there be a just cause or motive for the 
grant; for, according to the common doctrine of the 
best divines, indulgences, granted without cause, 
will not be ratified by Almighty God. Secondly, 
on the part of him that is to obtain the indulgence, 
it is requisite that he duly perform the conditions 
prescribed, such as going to confession and com- 
munion, fasting, alms, prayers, &c. and that he be 
in the state of grace; for it is in vain to expect the 
remission of the punishment due to sin, whilst a 
person continues in the guilt of mortal sin. 

Q. Does the indulgence so far remit all tem- 
poral punishment, as to free a penitent from all 
obligation of doing penance for his sins? 

A, No: for the obligation of doing penance for 
sin, and leading a penitential life, is an indispen- 
sable duty. Hence the Church usually enjoins peni- 
tential works, in order for the obtaining of indul- 
gences. And the opinion of the learned Cajetan 
and others is highly probable, that one condition 
for attaining to the benefit of an indulgence, in the 
release of the punishment of the next life, is a dis- 



CATHOLIC CIIKISTIAN INSTRUCTED. , 161 

position to do penance in this life ; for the treasure 
of the Church, out of which indulgences are grant- 
ed, is intended by our great master for the relief 
of the indigent; yet not so as to encourage the 
lazy, who refuse to labour at all for themselves. 

Q. Are you then of opinion, that a Christian 
receives no farther benefit by an indulgence, than 
he would do by the penitential works which he 
performs for the obtaining of that indulgence? 

A. 1 am far from being of that opinion; for, 
according to that way of thinking, no benefit would 
be reaped from the indulgence, but only from the 
works performed for the obtaining of it: whereas, 
the Church of God has declared in the Council of 
Trent, that 'Indulgences are very wholesome to 
Christian people.' Sess. 25. But what many di- 
vines maintain is, that regularly speaking, there is 
required, though not an equality, yet some propor- 
tion at least between the works to be done for the 
obtaining of an indulgence, and the indulgence 
itself: and this I believe to be true. See Soto in 
4tum. Dist. 12. Q. 2. Art. 2. and Sylvius in Sup. 
Q, 25. Art. 2. Qusesito 2. Conclus. 5. 

Q. What is meant by the treasure of the Church, 
out of which indulgences are said to be granted? 

A. The treasure of the Church, according to 
divines, are the merits and satisfaction of Christ 
and his saints, out of which the Church, when she 
grants an indulgence to her children, offers to'God 
an equivalent for the punishment which was due 
to the divine Justice. For the merits and satisfac- 
tion of Christ are of infinite value, and never to be 
exhausted, and the source of all our good: and as 
the merits and satisfactions of the saints have 
their value from Christ, and through him are ac- 
cepted by the Father, so by the communion, which 

14* 



162 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

all the members of Christ's mystical body have 
one with another, they are applicable to the faith- 
ful upon earth. 

Q. What is meant by a plenary indulgence? 

A. That which, when duly obtained, releases 
the whole punishment that remained due upon 
account of past sins. 

Q. What is meant by an indulgence of seven 
years, or of forty days? 

A, By an indulgence of so many years or days 
is meant the remission of the penance of so many 
years or days, and consequently of the punishment 
corresponding to the sins, which, by the canons of 
the Church, would have required so many years 
or days of penance, Bellarmin, I. 1. de Indulg. c. 9. 
And thus, if it be true, that there ever were any 
grants of indulgence of a thousand years or more, 
they are to be understood with relation to the pun- 
ishment corresponding to the sins, which accord- 
ing to the penitential canons would have required 
a thousand or more years of penance. For since, 
by these canons, seven or ten years of penance 
were usually assigned for one mortal sin of lust, 
perjury, &;c. it follows, that habitual sinners, accord- 
ing to the rigour of the canons, must have been 
liable to great numbers of years of penancce, and 
perhaps some thousands of years. And though they 
could not be expected to live so long as to fulfil this 
penance; yet, as by their sins they had incurred a 
debt of punishment proportionable to so long a time 
of penance, these indulgences of so many years, if 
ever granted, (which some call in question) wero 
designed to release them from the debt. 

Q. What is the meaning of indulgences for the 
dead? 

A' They are not granted by way of absolution, 



Ji 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 1G3 

since the pastors of the Church have not that juris- 
diction over the dead : but they are only available 
to the faithful departed, by way of suffrage, or 
spiritual succour applied to their souls out of^ the 
treasure of the Church. 

Q. What is the meaning of a jubilee? 

A, A jubilee, so called from the resjemblance it 
bears with the jubilee-year in the old law, Levit. 
XXV. and xxvii. (which was a year of remission, 
in which bondsmen were restored to liberty, and 
every one returned to his possession) is a plenary 
indulgence granted every twenty-fifth year, as also 
upon other extraordinary occasions, to such as, 
being truly penitent, shall wt)rthily receive the 
blessed sacrament, and perform the other condi- 
tions of fasting, alms and prayer, usually pre- 
scribed at such times. 

Q. What then is the difference betwixt a jubilee 
and any other plenary indulgence? 

A. A jubilee is more solemn, and accompanied 
with certain privileges, not usually granted upon 
other occasions, with regard to the being absolved 
by any approved confessor from all excommunica- 
tions and other reserved cases, and having vows 
exchanged into the perfoi;^mance of other works of 
piety. To which we may add, that as a jubilee is 
extended to the whole Church, which at that time 
joins as it were in a body in offering a holy vio- 
lence to heaven by prayers and penitential works; 
and as the cause for granting an indulgence at 
such times is usually more evident, and more or 
greater works of piety are prescribed for the ob- 
taining it, the indulgence of consequence is likely 
to be much more certain and secure. 

Q. What are the fruits which usually are seen 
amongst Catholics at the time of a jubilee? 



164 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A. As at that time the Church most pressingly 
invites all sinn-ers to return to God with their 
whole hearts, and encourages them by setting open 
her spiritual treasure in their favour, so the most 
usual effects of a jubilee are the conversions of 
great numbers of sinners, and the multiplying of 
all sorts of good works amongst the faithful. So 
far it is from being true, that indulgences are an 
encouragement to sin, or an occasion of a neglect 
ef good works, as our .adversaries unjustly object. 



CHAPTER XL 

OF THE SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION. 

Q. What do you mean by extreme unction? 

A. I mean the anointing of the sick, prescribed, 
St. James v. 14, 15. 'Is any one sick among you, 
let him call for the priests of the Church, and let 
them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the 
name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall 
save the sick man, and the Lord shall ease him: 
and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him.' 

Q. How do you prove that this anointing of the 
sick is a sacrament? 

A. Because it is the outward sign of an inward 
grace, or a divine ordinance, to which is annexed 
a promise of grace in God''s holy word. The 
anointing, together with the prayers that accom- 
pany it, are the outward sign: the ordinance of 
God is found in the words of St. James above 
quoted: the inward grace is promised in the same 
place, 'The prayer of faith shall save the sick 
man — and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven 
him.' 

Q. How do you prove that this ordinance was 



i 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 165 

designed for all ages, and not only for the time of 
the Apostles/' 

A, Because the words of the scriptures in which 
this ordinance is contained, are no way limited to 
the Apostles' time, no more than the words of the 
ordinance of baptism, St. Matt, xxviii. and because 
the Church of God, the best interpreter of his 
words and ordinances, has practised it in all ages. 

Q. To what kind of people is the sacrament of 
extreme unction to be administered? 

A, To those who, after having come to the use 
of reason, are in danger of death by sickness; but 
not to children under the age of reason, nor to 
persons sentenced to death, &c. 

Q. Can the same person receive the sacrament 
of extreme unction more than once? 

A. Yes^ but not in the same illness, except it 
should be of long continuance, and that the state of 
the sick man should be changed, so as to recover out 
of the danger, and then fall into the like case again. 

Q. What are the effects and fruits of the sacra- 
ment of extreme unction? 

A, First, it remits sins, at least such as are ve- 
nial, for mortal or deadly sins must be remitted, 
before receiving extreme unction, by the sacrament 
of penance and confession. Secondly, it heals the 
soul of her infirmity and weakness, and a certain 
propension to sin contracted by former sins, which 
are apt to remain in the soul, as the unhappy relics 
of sin; and it helps to remove something of the 
debt of punishment due to past sins. Thirdly, it 
imparls strength to the soul, to bear more easily 
the illness of the body, and arms her against the 
attempts of her spiritual enemies. Fourthly, if it 
be expedient for the good of the soul, it often re- 
stores the health of the body. 



166 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. What kind of oil is that which is made use 
of in the sacrament of extreme unction? 

A. Oil of Olives, solemnly blessed by the bishop 
every year on Maunday-Thursday. 

Q. What are the form and manner of administer- 
ing this sacrament? 

A. First, the priest, having instructed and dis 
^posed the sick person to this sacrament, recites, if 
the time permit, certain prayers prescribed in the 
Ritual, to beg God's blessing upon the sick, and 
that his holy angels may defend them, that dwell 
in that habitation, from all evil. Secondly, is said 
the Confiteor, or general form of confession and 
absolution; and the priest exhorts all present to 
join in prayer for the person that is sick; and if 
opportunity permit, according to the quality ^or 
number of persons there present, to recite the 
Seven Penitential Psalms with the Litanies, or 
other prayers, upon this occasion. Thirdly, the 
priest, making three times the sign of the cross 
upon the sick person, at the name of the blessed 
Trinity, says, 'In the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, may all power of 
the devil be extinguished in thee, by the laying on 
of our hands, and the invocation of all the holy 
angels, arch-angels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, 
martyrs, confessors, virgins and all the saints. 
Amen.' Fourthly, dipping his thumb in the holy 
oil, he anoints the sick person, in the form of the 
cross, upon the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands and 
feet; at each anointing making use of this form of 
prayer: 'Through this holy unction, and his own 
most tender mercy, may the Lord pardon thee 
whatever sins thou hast committed by thy sight. 
Amen.' And so of the hearing, and the rest, adapt- 
ing the form to the several senses. Fifthly, after 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 167 

this the priest goes on: 'Lord have mercy on us, 
Christ have mercy on us. Lord have mercy on 
us. Our Father, &c. And lead us not into temp- 
tation. E, But deliver us from evil. F. Save ihy 
servant. M. Trusting in thee, O my God. V. 
Send him, O Lord, help from thy sanctuary. R. 
And do thou defend him from Sion. F. Be to him, 
O Lord, a tower of strength. R. From the face 
of the enemy. F. Let not the enemy have any 
power over him. R. Nor the son of iniquity be 
able to hurt him. F. Lord, hear my prayer. R. 
And let my cry come unto thee. F. The Lord be 
vith you. R. And with thy spirit.' 

Let us pray. 

O Lord God, who hast said by thy Apostle James; 
'Is any one sick among you? Let him call for the 
priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, 
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 
and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the 
Lord shall ease him; and if he be in sins they shall 
be remitted to him:' heal we beseech thee, O our 
Redeemer, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, the 
maladies of this sick man, cure his wounds, and 
forgive him his sins, and expel from him all pains 
of mind and body, and mercifully restore unto him 
perfect health, both as to the interior and exterior, 
that being recovered by thy mercy, he may return 
to his former duties. Who with the Father and 
the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest one God, for 
ever and ever. Amen. 

Let us pray. 

Look down, we beseech thee, O Lord, on thy 
servant N. fainting under the infirmity of his 
body, and refresh a soul which thou hast created. 



168 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

that he, being improved by thy chastisements, may 
be saved by thy medicine. Through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

Let us pray. 

O holy Lord, Almighty Father, everlasting God! 
who, by imparting the grace of thy benediction to 
sick bodies, preservest, according to the multitude 
of thy mercies, the work of thy hands; favourably 
attend to the invocation of thy name, and deliver 
thy servant from his illness, and restoring him 
to health, raise him up by thy right hand, and 
strengthen him by thy virtue, defend him by thy 
power, and restore him with all desired prosperity 
to thy holy church. Through Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

As to what belongs to the order of the visitation 
of the sick, and the prayera and devotions proper 
upon that occasion, as also the manner of assisting 
those that are dying, consult the Roman Ritual; 
out of which I shall present you with the following 
form of the recommendation of a departing soul. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE ORDER OF THE RECOMBIENDATION OF A SOUL THAI 
IS JUST DEPARTING. 

Q. What is the form or order of the recommen- 
dation of a soul to God in its last passage? 

A, First, there is a short Litany recited, adapt- 
ed to that occasion; then the following prayers. 

Go forth, O Christian soul! from this world, in 
the name of God the Father Almighty, who created 
thee; in the name of Jesus Christ the Son of the 
living God, who suffered for thee; in the name of 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 169 

the Holy Ghost, who sanctified thee; in the name 
of the argels and the archangels; in the name of 
the thrones and dominations; in the name of the 
principalities and powers; in the name of the 
cherubims and seraphims; in the name of the 
patriarchs and prophets; in the name of the holy 
Apostles and Evangelists; in the name of the holy 
martyrs and confessors; in the name of the holy 
monks and hermits; in the name of the holy vir- 
gins, and of all the saints of God : let thy place be 
this day in peace, and thy abode in the holy Sion, 
Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

God most merciful ! O God most clement ! O 
God! who, according to the multitude of thy tender 
mercies, blottest out the sins of the penitent, and 
graciously remittest the guilt of their past offences; 
mercifully regard this thy servant N. and vouch- 
safe to hear him, who with the whole confession 
of his heart begs for the remission of all his sins. 
Kenew, O most merciful Father! whatever has been 
corrupted in him through human frailty, or vio- 
lated through the deceit of the enemy; and asso- 
ciate him as a member of redemption to the unity 
of the body of the church. Have compassion, O 
Lord! on his sighs; have compassion on his tears, 
and admit him, who has no hope but in thy mercy, 
to the sacrament of thy reconciliation. Through 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

1 recommend thee, dear brother, to the Almighty 
God, and commit thee to his care, whose creature 
thou art; that when thou shalt have paid the debt 
of all mankind by death, thou mayest return to 
thy Maker, who formed thee of the slime of the 
earth. When thy soul therefore shall depart from 
thy body, let the resplendent multitude of the an- 

15 



170 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

gels meet thee; let the triumphant army of the 
martyrs, clad in their white robes, conduct thee: 
let the glorious company of illustrious confessors 
encompass thee: let the choir of joyful virgins re- 
ceive thee: and mayest thou meet with a blessed 
repose in the bosom of the patriarchs: let Christ 
Jesus appear to thee with a mild and cheerful 
countenance, and order thee a place amongst those 
that are to stand before him for ever. Mayest 
thou never ktiow the horror of darkness, the gnash- 
ing in flames or racking torments. May the most 
wicked enemy, with all his evil spirits, be forced 
to give way: may he tremble at thy approach in 
the company of angels, and fly away into the vast 
chaos of eternal night. Let God arise, and his 
enemies be dispersed: and let them that hate him 
fly before his face: let them, like smoke, come to 
nothing, and as wax that melts before the fire, so 
let sinners perish in the sight of God, but may the 
just feast and rejoice in his sight. Let then all 
the legions of hell be confounded and put to shame, 
and may none of the ministers of satan dare to 
stop thee in thy way. May Christ deliver thee 
fro^) torments, who was crucified for thee. May 
Christ deliver thee from eternal death, who vouch- 
safed to die for thee. May Christ the Son of God 
place thee in the delightful garden of his Para- 
dise, and may he, the true Shepherd, number thee 
amongst his sheep. May he absolve thee from all 
thy sins, and place thee at his right-hand in the 
lot of his elect. Mayest thou see thy Redeemer 
face to face, and standing always in his presence, 
behold with joyful eyes the most clear truth. 
Mayest thou be placed amongst the companies of 
the blessed, and enjoy the sweetness of the con- 
templation of thy God for ever. Amen. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 171 

Receive thy servant, O Lord! into the place of 
salvation, which he hopes for from thy mercy 
S, Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord I the soul of thy servant from 
all the perils of hell, from pains and all tribula- 
tions. It, Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 
thou deliveredest Enoch and Elias from the com- 
mon death of the world. E. Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 
thou deliveredest Noah from the flood. R. Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 
thou deliveredest Abraham from Ur of the Chal- 
deans. R, Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as thou 
deliveredest Job from his sufferings. R. Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 
thou deliveredest Isaac from being sacrificed by 
the hand of his father Abraham. R, Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant,- as 
thou deliveredest Lot from Sodom, and the flames 
of fire. R, Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 
thou deliveredest Moses from the hands of Pha- 
roah king of Egypt. R, Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 
thou deliveredest Daniel from the lion's den. R. 
Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 
thou deliveredest the three children from the fiery 
furnace, and from the hands of a wicked king. 
R, Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 
thou deliveredest Susannah from her false ac- 
cusers. R. Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 



172 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

thou deliveredest David from the hands of king 
Saul, and from the hands of GoUah. R, Amen. 

Deliver, O Lord! the soul of thy servant, as 
thou deliveredest Peter and Paul out of prison. 
R. Amen. 

And as thou deliveredest the most blessed St. 
Thecla, virgin and martyr, from three most dread- 
ful torments, so vouchsafe to deliver the soul of 
this thy servant, and make it rejoice with thee m 
the joys of heaven. R, Amen. 

We commend to thee, O Lord! the soul of thy 
servant N, And we beseech thee, O Lord Jesus 
Christ! the Saviour of the world! that thou wouldst 
not refuse to admit into the bosom of thy pa- 
triarchs, a soul for which, in thy mercy, thou wast 
pleased to come down upon earth. Own him for 
thy creature, not made by any strange gods, but 
by thee the only living and true God; for there is 
no other God but thee, and none that can equal 
thy works. Let his soul rejoice in thy presence, 
and remember not his former iniquities and ex- 
cesses, the unhappy effects of passion or evil con- 
cupiscence; for although he has sinned, he has 
not renounced the Father, or the Son, or the 
Holy Ghost; but believed, and had a zeal for 
God, and faithfully worshiped him who made all 
things. 

Remember not, O Lord! we beseech thee, the 
sins of his youth, and his ignorance; but according 
to thy great mercy, be mindful of him in thy heav- 
enly glory. May the heavens be opened to him, 
and may the angels rejoice with him. Receive, 
O Lord! thy servant into thy kingdom. Let St. 
Michael, the archangel of God, conduct him, who 
is the chief of the heavenly host. Let the holy 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTE]g. 173 

angels of God come to meet him, and carry him 
to the city of the heavenly Jerusalem. May St. 
Peter the Apostle receive him, to whom God has 
given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. May 
St. Paul the Apostle assist him, who was a vessel 
of election. May St. John the chosen Apostle of 
God intercede for him, to whom were revealed the 
secrets of heaven. May all the holy Apostles pray 
for him, to whom our Lord gave the power of 
binding and loosing. May all the saints and elect 
of God intercede for him, who in this world suf- 
fered torments for the name of Christ; that he, be- 
ing delivered from the bonds of the flesh, may de- 
serve to be admitted into the glory of the kingdom 
of heaven: through the merits of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost 
liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Anien. 

After which, if the sick person still continue to 
labour in his agony, it may be proper, as the Ritual 
prescribes, to continue reciting other Psalms and 
prayers adapted to those circumstances. 

Q. What is the meaning of the lighting of a 
blessed candle, and keeping it burning during a 
person^s agony? 

-4. This light represents the light of faith in 
which a Christian dies, and the light of glory 
which he looks for. Besides, these candles are 
blessed by the Church, with a solemn prayer to 
God, to chase away the devils from those places 
where they shall be lighted. 

Q. What is the form of blessing candles? 

A. The Ritual prescribes the following prayer: 

F. Our help is in the name of the Lord. 
i?. Who made heaven and earth. 
15* 



174 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Let us pray. 

O Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God!,. 
bless ^ by our prayers these candles; pour forth 
upon them by the virtue of the holy ►Ji cross thy 
heavenly benediction, who hast given them to ' 
mankind to chase away darkness; and may they 
receive such a blessing, by the sign of the holy 4< 
cross, that in what place soever they shall be 
lighted or set up, the rulers of darkness, with all 
their ministers, may depart, and trembling fly away 
from those dwellings; nor presume any more to 
disturb or molest those that serve thee the Al- 
mighty God, who livest and reignest for ever and . 
ever. Amen. 

Q. What is the meaning of tolling the passing- 
bell when a person is expiring. 

A, To admonish the faithful to pray for him, 
that God may grant him a happy passage. 



CHAPTER XIIL 

OF THE OFFICE FOR THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. 

Q. What is the manner and order of burying 
the dead in the Catholic Church? 

A. The pastor or parish-priest, accompanied by 
his clerics, goes to the house of the deceased, and 
having sprinkled the body or coffin with holy wa- 
ter, recites the Anthem, 'If thou observe iniquities, 
O Lord! O Lord! who shall sustain it;' with the 
120th Psalm, ' De prof unci is,'' 'From the depth, I 
have cried,' &c. in the end of which he says, 
'Eternal rest give to him, O Lord!' E, 'And let 
perpetual shine upon him.' Then he repeats the 
Anthem, 'If thou shalt observe iniquities,' &c. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED, 175 

After this, the body is carried to the Church, the 
clergy going before, two and two, after the man- 
ner of a procession and singing the 50th Psalm, 
* Miserere^ ' Have mercy on me, O God! according 
to thy great mercy,' &c. and the people following 
the corpse, and praying in silence for the deceased. 
When they are come to the Church, the corpse is 
set down in the middle of the Church, with the 
feet towards the altar (except the deceased was a 
priest, in which case the head is to be towards the 
altar) and wax tapers are lighted and set up round 
the coffin. Then, if time and opportunity permit, 
is recited the Dirge, that is, the office of the ma- 
tins and lauds for the dead, followed by a solemn 
Mass for the soul of the deceased, according to 
the most ancient custom of the universal Church. 

The Dirge and Mass being finished, the priest, 
standing at the head of the deceased, begins the 
office of the burial, as follows: 

Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O 
Lord! for no one' shall be justified in thy sight, 
except thou vouchsafe to grant him the remission 
of all his sins. Let not therefore, we beseech thee, 
the sentence of thy judgment fall upon him, whom 
the true supplication of Christian faith recommend- 
eth to thee: but by the assistance of thy grace let 
him escape the judgment of thy vengeance, who, 
whilst he was living, was marked with the sign of 
the holy Trinity: who iivest and reignest for ever 
and ever. Amen. 

Then the Choir sings the following Responsary. 

Deliver me, O Lord! from eternal death, at that 
dreadful day, when the heavens and earth shall be 
moved, when thou shalt come to judge the world 



176 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED, 

by fire. V. I am struck with tremblings and I 
fear, against the day of account, and of the wrath 
to come; when the heavens and earth shall be 
moved. V, That day, a day of wrath, of calamity 
and misery, a great and most bitter day, when 
thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. F. 
Eternal rest give to him, Lord! and let perpe- 
tual light shine upon him. Deliver me, O Lord! 
&c. as before, till the Verse, ' I am struck,' &;c. 

Lord! have mercy on us. Christ! have mercy 
on us. Lord! have mercy on us. Our Father, 
&c. (Here the priest puts incense into the thuri- 
ble, and then going round the coffin, sprinkles with 
holy water, and afterwards incenses the body, and 
then concludes the Lord's Prayer.) F. Lead us 
not into temptation. R, But deliver us from evil. 
F. From the gate of hell. R, Deliver his soul, O 
Lord! F. Let him rest in peace. R, Amen. F, 
O Lord! hear my prayer. R, And let my cry 
come to thee. F. The Lord be with you. R, 
And with thy spirit. 

Let us pray. 

O God! to whom it belongs always to show 
mercy, and to spare, we humbly beseech thee for 
the soul of thy servant N. which thou hast this 
day commanded to depart out of this world, that 
thou wouldst not deliver it up into the hands of the 
enemy, nor put it out of thy memory for ever, but 
that thou wouldst order it to be received by the 
holy angels, and conducted to Paradise, its truo 
country: that since it has believed and hoped in 
thee, it may not suffer the pains of hell, but take 
possession of everlasting joys, through Christ oui 
Lord. Amen. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 177 

After this, whilst the body is carried towards 
the place of its interment, is sung or said the fol- 
lowing Anthem. 

»May the angels conduct thee into Paradise, may 
the martyrs receive thee at thy coming, and bring 
thee to the holy city of Jerusalem; may the choir 
of angels receive thee, and mayest thou have eter- 
nal rest with Lazarus, who was formerly poor. 

When they are come to the grave, if it has not 
been blessed before, the priest blesses it by the 
following prayer, which is the same that we make 
use of in this kingdom, in blessing the mould or 
earth, which we put in the coffin with the corpse, 
in the private burial office. 

O God! by whose tender mercy the souls of the 
faithful find rest, vouchsafe to bless this tomb, and 
depute thy holy angel to guard it, and absolve 
from all the bonds of sin the souls of those whose 
bodies are here interred, that with thy saints they 
may ever rejoice without end in thee. Through 
Christ our Lord, Amen. 

Then the priest sprinkles with holy water, and 
afterwards incenses both the corpse of the deceased 
and the grave. Then, whilst the body is put in 
the earth, is sung or said the following Anthem, 
with the Canticle Benedictus, or the song of Za- 
charias, St: Luke, i. 65, &c. 

,1 am the resurrection and the life, he that be- 
lieveth in me, although he be dead, shall live; and 
every one that liveth, and belie veth in me, shall 
not die for ever. St. John xi. 25. 

Or else (as it is the custom in many places) when 
the body is put in the earth, the priest, with the as- 
sistants, recites the penitential Psalm, Miserere, 



178 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAI*^ INSTRUCTED. 

Then the priest says, Lord! have mercy on us. 
Christ! have mercy on us. Lord! have mercy on 
us. Our Father, &c. (Here he sprinkles the body 
with holy water.) V, And lead us not into tempta- 
tion. E. But deliver us from evil. V, From the 
gate of hell. E, Deliver his soul, O Lord! F. 
Let him rest in peace. R. Amen. V, O Lord! 
hear my prayer. R, And let my cry come unto 
thee. F. The Lord be with you. R. And with 
thy spirit. 

Let us pray. 

Grant, O Lordl this mercy to thy servant de- 
ceased, that he, (or she) may not receive a return 
of punishment for his (or her) deeds, who in his 
(or her) wishes was held fast by thy will; that as 
here true faith has joined him (or her) to the com- 
pany of thy faithful, so thy mercy there may 
associate him (or her) to the choirs of angels. 
Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

V. Eternal rest give to him, O Lord! R, And 
let perpetual light shine upon him. F. Let him 
rest in peace. R, Amen. May his soul, and the 
souls of all the faithful departed, through the 
mercy of God, rest in peace. 

Then the priest, returning from the grave, re- 
cites the Psalm, ' Be profundis,'^ with the Anthem, 
'If thou shalt observe iniquities, O Lord! O Lord^ 
who shall sustain it?' 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTETJCTED. 179 



CHAPTER XIV. 

OF PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD, AND OF PURGATORT. 

Q. What is the meaning of prayers for the 
dead? 

A. Praying for the dead is a practice as ancient 
as Christianity, received by tradition from the 
Apostles, as appears by the most certain monu- 
ments of antiquity and observed by the Syna- 
gogue, or church of God in the Old Testament, as 
appears from 2 Machab. xii. v^ritten long before 
Christ's coming, and followed by the Jews to this 
day; — a practice grounded upon Christian charity, 
which teaches us to pray for all that are in neces- 
sity, and to implore God's mercy for all that are 
capable of mercy; which we have reason to be 
convinced is the case of many of our deceased 
brethren, and therefore we pray for them. 

Q. How do you prove that the practice of p«ray- 
ing for the dead is as ancient as Christianity? 

A, From Tertullian, in his book of the Soldier's 
Crown, chap. 3. written about a hundred years 
after the death of the Apostles; where he reckons 
the oblations for the dead upon their anniversary 
days, amongst the immemorial traditions observed 
by all Christians: and in his book de Monogamia, 
chap. 10. where he affirms it to be the duty of a 
Christian widow to pray for the soul of her hus- 
band, and to beg a refreshment for him, and to 
keep his anniversaries. See St. Cyprian, epist. ^^, 
Arnobius, I. 4. Eusebius 1. 4. de Vita Constantini, 
c. 71. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. Mystag. 5. 
St. Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. 10, &c. Hence, St. 
John Chrysostom, Hom. 3. upon the Epistle to the 
Philippians, tells us, that it was ordained by the 



180 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN mSTRVCTED, 

Apostles that the dead should be commemorated in 
the sacred mysteries; and St. Augustine, serm. 32. 
*de Verbis Apost. J 2.' that it was a practice re- 
ceived from the fathers, and observed by the uni- 
versal Church. And it appears from St. Epipha- 
nius, Hser, 75. that Arius was ranked amongst 
the heretics by the Church in the fourth century, 
for denying that the prayers of the living did the 
dead any good. 

Q. Is it any argument, in favour of prayers for 
the dead, that it was practised by Judas Macha- 
bseus, and by the Jews before the coming of Christ? 

A, Yes, a very great argument; first, because 
this practice is expressly approved in the 12th 
chapter of the second book of Machabees; which 
books, by many councils and fathers, are ranked 
amongst the divine scriptures. Secondly, because 
the Jews in those days were undoubtedly the people 
of God. Thirdly, because as Dr. Taylor writes, 
Lib. of Prophesying, sect. 20. numb. 11. p. 265. 
^ We find by the history of the Machabees that the 
Jews did pray and make offerings for the dead, 
which also appears by other testimonies, and by 
their form of prayers, still extant, which they 
used in the captivity. Now it is very consider- 
able, that since our blessed Saviour did reprove all 
the evil doctrines and traditions of the Scribes and 
Pharisees, and did argue concerning the dead and 
the resurrection against the Saducees, yet he spake 
no word against this public practice, but left it as 
he found it; which he who came to declare to us 
all the will of his Father would not have done, if it 
had not been innocent, pious, and full of charity.'' 

Q. But what reason is there to believe, that our 
prayers can be of any service to the dead? 

A. The same reason as there is to believe, that 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 181 

our prayers are of service to the living; Ibr v^he- 
ther we consult the scripture, or primilivo tradi- 
tion, with relation to the pronaises or encourage- 
ments given in favour of our prayers, we shall no 
where find the dead excepted fronn the benefit of 
thenn; and the perpetual practice of the Church of 
God, which is the best interpreter of the scrip- 
ture, has fronn the very beginning ever authorized 
prayers for the dead, as believing such prayers 
beneficial to thenn. 

Q. But are not they that have past this nnortal 
life arrived to an unchangeable state of happiness 
or nnisery, so that they either want not our pray- 
ers, or cannot be bettered by them? 

A, Some there are, though I fear but few, that 
have before their death so fully cleared all accounts 
with the divine Majesty, and washed away all their 
stains in the blood of the Lamb, as to go straight 
to heaven after death; and such as those stand not 
in need of our prayers. Others therQ are, and 
their numbers are very great, who die in the guilt 
of deadly sin, and such as these go straight to hell, 
like the rich glutton in the gospel, St. Luke xvi. 
and therefore cannot be bettered by our prayers. 
But, besides these two kinds, there are many 
Christians, who, when they die, are neither so 
perfectly pure and clean, as to exempt them from 
the least spot or stain, nor yet so unhappy as 
to die under the guilt of unrepented deadly sin. 
Now, such as these the Church believes to be, for 
a time, in a middle state, which we call purgatory; 
and these are they who are capable of receiving 
benefit by our prayers. For though we pray for 
all that die in the communion of the Church, be- 
cause we do not certainly know the particular state 
in which each one dies, yet we are sensible that 

16 



182 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

our prayers are available for those only that are 
in this middle state. 

Q. But what grounds have you to believe that 
there is any such place as a purgatory, or middle 
state of souls? 

A. We have the strongest grounds imaginable 
from all kind of arguments, from scripture, from 
perpetual tradition, from the authority and decla- 
ration of the Church of God, and from reason. 

Q. What grounds have you for purgatory from 
scripture? 

A. First, because the scripture teaches us in 
many places, that it is the fixed rule of God's 
justice, ' to render to every man according to his 
works.' See Psalm Ixii. 12. St. Matt. xvi. 27. 
Romans ii. 6. Rev. xxii. 12, &c. So that accord- 
ing to the works which each man has done in the 
time of his mortal life, and according to the state 
in which he is found at the moment of his depar- 
ture out of this life, he shall certainly receive 
reward or punishment from God. Hence it evi- 
dently follows, that as by this rule of God's justice, 
they that die in great and deadly sins, not cancel- 
led by repentance, will be eternally punished in 
hell; so by the same rule, they that die in lesser 
or venial sins (which is certainly the case of a 
great many) will be punished somewhere for a 
time, till God's justice be satisfied, and this is what 
we call purgatory. 

Secondly, because the scripture assures us, Rev. 
xxi. 27. that 'there shall in no wise enter into the 
heavenly Jerusalem any thing that defileth, or that 
is defiled.' So that if the soul is found to have the 
least spot or stain, at the time of her departure out 
of this life, she cannot in that condition go straight 
to heaven. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 183 

Now, how few are there that depart this life, 
perfectly pure from the dregs and stains, to which 
we are ever subject in this state of mortality? and 
yet God forbid that every little spot or stain should 
condemn the soul to the everlasting torments of 
hell. Therefore, there must be a middle place for 
such souls as die under these lesser stains. 

Thirdly, because the scripture assures us, St. 
Matt* xii. 36. that we are to render an account 
hereafter to the great Judge, even, 'for every 
word,' that we have spoken; and consequently, 
every idle word, not cancelled here by repentance, 
is liable to be punished by God's justice hereafter. 
Now no one can think that God will condemn a 
soul to hell for every idle word; therefore there 
must be another place of punishment for those that 
die guilty of these little transgressions. 

Fourthly, because St. Paul informs us, 1 Cor. iii. 
13, 14, 15. that 'every man's work shall be made 
manifest,' by a fiery trial; and that they who have 
built upon the foundation, which is Christ, wood, 
hay, and stubble, (that is, whose works have been 
very imperfect and defective, though not to the 
degree of losing Christ) 'shall suffer loss; but them- 
selves shall be saved, yet so as by fire.' Which 
place cannot be well explained otherwise than by 
the fire of purgatory. 

Fifthly, because our Lord tells us, St. Matt. xii. 
32. that 'whosoever speaketh against the Holy 
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this 
world, neither in the world to come.' Where our 
Lord (who could not speak any thing absurd, or 
out of the way) would never have mentioned ' for- 
giveness in the world to come,' if sins not forgiven 
in this world could never be forgiven in the world 
to come. Now if there may be forgiveness of any 



184 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Bin whatsoever in the world to come, there must be 
a middle place or purgatory; for no sin can enter 
heaven to be forgiven there, and in hell there is 
no forgiveness. 

Add to these texts of scripture the prison men- 
tioned, St. Matt. V. 26. out of which a man 'shall 
not come till he has paid the uttermost farthing;' 
and 'the spirits in prison,' to which our Saviour is 
said to have gone to preach, 1 Pet. iii. 18, 19, 20. 

Q. What grounds have you for purgatory from 
perpetual tradition ? 

A, Because, as we have seen already, the Jewish 
Church long before our Saviour's coming, and the 
Christian Church from the very beginning, have 
offered prayers and sacrifice for the repose and 
relief of the faithful departed, as appears from in- 
numerable testimonies of the fathers, and from the 
most ancient liturgies of all Christian Churches 
and nations, Romans, Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, 
Nestorians, Egyptians, Ethiopians," Indians, Mosar- 
bes, &c. Which consent, so ancient and so univer 
sal, of all ages and of all nations, before protes 
tantism, is a most convincing argument that this 
practice came by tradition from the Apostles; and 
consequently that the belief of a purgatory is an 
apostolic tradition: for what sense could there be 
in praying for the repose and relief of the souls 
of the faithful departed, if there were no middle 
place, but all went straight to heaven or hell? 

Q, What grounds have you for the belief of a 
purgatory from the authority of the Church? 

A. Because the Church of Christ has declared 
that there is a purgatory, as well by condemning 
of old Arius for a heretic, for denying that the 
prayers of the living did the dead any service, as 
also by the express definitions of her general Coun- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. ISS 

oils. Now the Scripture most evidently teaches us, 
in many places, that we are to hear and obey the 
Church, and that Christ and the Holy Ghost will 
be always with the Church to guide her into all 
truth, and that the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against her. So that what the Church has thus 
declared can be no error, but must absolutely be a 
most certain truth. 

Q. What grounds have you for the belief of a 
purgatory from reason? 

A. Because reason teaches these two things: 
first, that every sin, be it ever so small, is an 
offence of God, and consequently deserves pun- 
ishment from the justice of God; and therefore 
that every person that dies under the guilt of 
any such offence un repented, must expect to be 
punished by the justice of God. Secondly, that 
there are small sins, in which a person may hap- 
pen to die, that are so small, either through the 
levity of the matter, or for want of a full deli- 
beration in the act, as not to deserve everlasting 
punishments. From whence it plainly follows, 
that besides the place of everlasting punishment, 
which we call hell, there must be also a place of 
temporal punishment for such as die in those lesser 
offences, and this we call purgatory. 

Q. But does not the blood of Christ sufficiently 
purify us from all our sins, without any other 
purgatory? 

A. The blood of Christ purifies none that are 
once come to the use of reason, from any sin with- 
out repentance; and therefore such sins as have 
not been here recalled by repentance, must be 
punished hereafter, according to their gravity, by 
the divine Justice, either in hell, if the sins be 
mortal; o^ if venial, in purgatory. 

16* 



186 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. Do you then think that any repentance can 
be available after death? 

A. No; but God's justice must take place after 
death, which will render to every man according 
to his works. So that we do not believe that the 
repentance of the souls that are in purgatory, or 
any thing else that they can then do, will cancel 
their sins; but they must suffer for them till God's 
justice be satisfied. 

Q. Are they not then capable of relief in that 
state? 

A, Yes they are, but not from any thing that 
they can do for themselves, but from the prayers, 
alms, and other suffrages offered to God for them 
by the faithful upon earth, which God in his 
mercy is pleased to accept of, by reason of that 
communion which we have with them, by being 
fellow members of the same body of the church, 
under the same head, which is Christ Jesus. 

Q. But what do you say to that text of scrip- 
ture, Eccles. xi. 'If the tree fall towards the south, 
or toward the north, in the place where the tree 
falleth there shall it lie?' 

A, I say that it is no way evident that this text 
has relation to the state of the soul after death; 
but if it be so understood as to have relation to the 
soul, it makes nothing against purgatory, because 
it only proves what no Catholic denies; viz. that 
when once a soul is come to the south, or to the 
north, that is to heaven or hell, its state is un- 
changeable. 

Q. But does not the scripture promise rest after 
death to such 'as die in the Lord,' Rev. xiv. 13.^ 

A. Yes it does, but then we are to understand, 
that those are said to die in the Lord, who die for 
the Lord by martyrdom; or at least those who, at 



^- CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 187 

the time of their death, are so happy as to have no 
debts nor stains to interpose between them and the 
Lord. As for others who die but imperfectly in 
the Lord, they shall rest indeed from the labours 
of this world; but as their works that follow ihem 
are imperfect, they must expect to ' receive from 
the Lord according to their works.' 

Q, Christ said to the thief upon the cross, St. 
Luke xxiii. ' this day shalt thou be with me in 
Paradise;^ what appearance then is there that any 
one dying in God's grace should go to purgatory? 

A. The case of this penitent thief, to whom 
Christ was pleased to give a full discharge at once 
of all his sins, was extraordinary, as his faith and 
confession were extraordinary; and therefore to 
make a general rule from this particular instance 
is a bad way of arguing; the more, because we 
have reason to be convinced, that not one in a 
thousand dies so perfectly penitent, as to be per- 
fectly purified before death from all the dregs of 
sin, which was the particular grace granted to this 
penitent thief. 

If you ask me, — what is meant by Paradise in 
that text, and how the penitent thief could be with 
Christ that day in Paradise, before our Lord had 
taken possession of heaven for himself and us, by 
his resurrection and ascension? I answer, that 
our Lord descending after death into limbo, to the 
holy fathers, made that place a Paradise, by mani- 
festing his glory to those happy souls: and this 
was the Paradise into which he introduced the 
penitent thief immediately after his death. 



188 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



CHAPTER XV. 

OF THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS. 

Q. What do you mean by the sacrament of 
holy Orders? 

A. A sacrament by which the ministers of Christ 
are consecrated to their sacred functions, and re- 
ceive grace to discharge them well. 

Q. How do you prove that holy Orders are a 
sacrament? 

A. Because they are a visible sign of an invi 
sible grace, and that by divine institution, or by 
the ordinance of Christ, which alone can annex 
the gift of grace to any outward rite or ceremony. 
The outward and visible sign is found in the impo- 
sition or laying on of the bishop's hands and prayer: 
after which sort we tind the seven deacons ordain- 
ed. Acts vi. 6. and St. Paul and St. Barnabas, Acts 
xiii. 3. The invisible grace, conferred by this 
imposition of hands, is attested, 2 Tim. i. 6. 'Stir 
up the grace of God, which is in thee by the impo- 
sition of hands.' And the divine institution of holy 
Orders is gathered, as well from the use of the 
Apostles, and the perpetual tradition of the church, 
as from those texts in which Christ bequeathed the 
whole power of the priesthood to his disciples, and 
to their successors, St. Luke xxii. 19. 'Do this in 
remembrance of me;' and St. John xx. 22. 23. 
'Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye 
remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose 
soever sins ye retain, they are retained.' 

Q. By what steps do persons ascend in the Ca* 
tholic church to the Order of Priesthood? 

A. First, they must be initiated by the clerical 
tonsure, which is not properly an Order, but only 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 189 

a preparation for Orders. The bishop cuts off the 
extremities of their hair, to signify their renounc- 
ing the world, and its vanities; and he revests 
them with a surplice, and so receives them into 
the clergy; they making at the same time a so» 
lemn profession of taking the Lord for their in- 
weritance and portion for ever. 

Secondly, they must pass through the minor or 
lesser orders, which have been received from the 
primitive Church, viz. the Orders of porter or 
door-keeper of the church; lector, or reader of the 
lessons in the divine office: exorcist, whose func- 
tion is to read the exorcisms and prayers of the 
church over those who are possessed or obsessed 
by the devil; and acolyth, whose function is to 
serve the Mass, light the candles in the church, 
&c. All these are ordained by receiving from the 
bishop the instruments or books belonging to their 
respective offices, and solemn prayers prescribed 
in the Pontifical. 

Thirdly, from the minor orders they are pro- 
moted to the order of sub-deacon, which is the first 
of those that are called holy. In the conferring 
this order, the bishop puts the candidates in mind, 
that hitherto they have had their liberty to quit 
the ecclesiastical calling, and engage themselves 
by marriage in the world; but if they will be 
ordained sub-deacons, which he leaves to their 
choice, they are thereby tied for ever to the ser* 
vice of God and his church in the state of perpe- 
tual continence. Sub-deacons also are obliged to 
Jhe canonical hours of the church-office; and in the 
High-Mass assist the deacon in his ministry. 

Fourthly, from the Order of sub-deacon they 
are advanced to the Order of deacon, which is 
conferred upon them by the imposition of the bish- 



190 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

op's hands, and by delivering to them the book of 
the gospels. The deacon's office is to assist the 
bishop or priest in the sacrifice of the Mass, to sing 
and preach the gospels, to baptize, &;c. 

Fifthly, from the Order of deacon the next 
ascent is to the Order of priest, or presbyter, 
above which is the Order of bishops, amongst 
whom the chief is called the Pope. 

Q. In what manner is the Order of priesthood 
administered? 

A, The person that is to be ordained is present- 
ed to the bishop by the arch-deacon, desiring, in 
the name of the church, that he may be promoted 
to priesthood, and bearing testimony of his being 
worthy of that office. Then the bishop publishes 
to the clergy and people there present the designed 
promotion, that if any one has any thing to allege 
against the person that is to be ordained, he may 
freely declare it. If no one appears to allege any 
thing against him, the bishop proceeds to admonish 
him of the duties and functions of the priesthood, 
and to exhort him to a diligent discharge thereof. 
After which, both the bishop and the person that 
is to be ordained, prostrate themselves in prayer, 
whilst the litanies are sung or said by the choir or 
clergy there present; which being ended, the bish- 
op stands up, and the person that is to be ordained 
kneeling, the bishop first, and then all the priests 
there present, one after another, lay both their 
hands on his head, which imposition of hands is 
immediately followed by the solemn prayers of 
consecration, and by revesting him with the priest- 
ly ornaments; then the Holy Ghost is invoked by 
the hymn, Veni Creator. After which the bishop 
anoints the hands of the person ordained, and then 
delivers into his hands the chalice with the wine 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 191 

and water, and the paten with the bread, saying, 
"Receive the power to offer sacrifice to God, and 
celebrate Mass, as well for the living as for the 
dead, in the name of the Lord." Then the person 
ordained says Mass with the bishop, and receives 
the holy communion at his hands. At the end of 
the Mass the bishop again imposes his hand upon 
him, saying those words of Christ: St. John xi. 22, 
23. 'Receive the Holy Ghost: whose sins thou 
shalt forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose 
sins thou shalt retain, they are retained.' After 
which he receives from him the promise of obe- 
dience, and gives him the kiss of peace. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

OF THE SUPERIORITY OF THE BISHOPS, AND OF THE 
SUPREMACY OF THE POPE. 

Q. How do you prove that besides priests or 
presbyters, there has been always in the church 
the Order of bishops, superior to that of priests? 

A. I prove it both from scripture and perpetual 
tradition. The New Testament, in several places, 
mentions bishops, as Philip, i. 1. 1 Tim. iii. 2. Tit. 
i. 7. Acts XX. 28. And it is visible, that the angels 
of the seven churches of Asia, mentioned in the 
first, second, and third chapters of the Revelation, 
were the bishops of those sees, and accordingly 
had a jurisdiction over them. It is no less visible, 
from the epistles of St. Paul to Timothy and Titus, 
that both one and the other were bishops, with 
power of ordaining inferior priests; and Timothy, 
in particular, is instructed by the Apostle, in what 
manner he is to comport himself to the priests 
under him, 1 Tim. v. 17, 19. And as for perpe- 



192 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

tual tradition, it is evident from all kind of monu- 
ments, and from the most ancient church history, 
that the church has always been governed by 
bishops, and that the Apostles every where estab- 
lished bishops. Thus St. Irenosus, 1. 3. c. 3. Ter- 
tullian, L. de Prescrip. and other ancients assure 
us, that Linus and Clement were ordained bishops 
by St. Peter and St. Paul for the see of Rome. 
Thus Eusebius, and other ancient monuments, in- 
form us, that St. Mark was the first bishop of 
Alexandria, and was succeeded by Anianus; thai 
Evodius and Ignatius, disciples of the Apostles, 
were, after St. Peter, the first bishops of Antioch; 
that St. James was constituted by the Apostles the 
first bishop of Jerusalem, and had for successor 
Simeon the son of Cleophas; that St. Polycarp was 
made bishop of Smyrna by St. John, &c. 

Q. How do you prove, that amongst bishops one 
should be head, and have a jurisdiction over the restT 

A. Because Christ has so appointed, who gave 
that pre-eminence to St. Peter with respect to the 
rest of the Apostles; as appears from St. Matt. xvi. 
18, 19. when, in reward of his faith and confe»- 
fiion, he confirmed to him the name of Peter, or 
Rock; and promised to him, that upon this rock 
he would build his church, and the gates of hell 
should not prevail against it; and that he would 
give him the Mceys of the kingdom of heaven,' &c. 
And from St. John xxi. 15, &c. when our Lord, 
after having asked St. Peter, 'Dost thou love me 
more than these?' three times committed to him 
the charge of all his lambs and sheep, without 
exception; that is, of his whole Church. Hence, 
St. Matthew, ch. x. 2. reckoning the names of the 
twelve Apostles says, *The first, Simon, who is 
called Peter.' Now, it does not appear that ho 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 193 

could be called the first, upon any other account but 
by reason of his supremacy; for that he was first 
in age is more than appears, and that he was first 
in calling is not true; for St. Andrew came to 
Christ before Peter, and was probably the elder 
brother; and certain it is, that the Evangelists, 
in reckoning up the names of the Apostles, upon 
several occasions, neither follow the order of their 
age, nor of their calling; yet they always reckon 
Peter in the first place, and sometimes more clear- 
ly to intimate his pre-eminence, name him alone 
as chief or prince; as St. Mark i. 36. ^ Simon, and 
they that were with him:' St. Luke ix. 32. ^ Peter 
and they that were with him:' Acts ii. 14. 'Peter 
standing up with the eleven:' Acts v. 29. 'Peter 
and the Apostles answered and said,' &c. where 
the Protestant translation has put in the word 
^ other Apostles,' as clearly seeing that the former 
expression (which is that of the original) too clear- 
ly expressed St. Peter's being something more 
than the rest. 

It is also worth observing, that our Lord was 
pleased to teach the people out of St. Peter's ship, 
St. Luke V. 3. that he ordered the same tribute to 
be paid for himself and Peter, St. Matt. xvii. 27: 
that he particularly prayed for Peter, that his faith 
should not fail, and ordered him to confirm or 
strengthen his brethren, St. Luke xxii. 32, &c. 

Hence St. Peter's supremacy is acknowledged 
by the perpetual tradition of the holy fathers. 
See Origin on the 6th chapter to the Romans, and 
in his 5th Homily upon Exodus; St. Basil, of tho 
Judgment of God, c. 2. p. 402: St. CyriK of Jeru- 
salem, in his 2d Catechesis: St. Epiphanius, Haer, 
61. 5 17. & Hoer. 64. }. 7. and in his Anchoratus, j 
6. p. 14, 15: St. John Chrysostom in his 2d Homily 

17 



194 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

on the 50th Psalm, in his 54th Homily upon St, 
Matthew, &;c. St. Cyril, of Alexandria, in his 12th 
Book upon St. John: St. Austerius, Bishop of Ama- 
seea, in his sermon upon St. Peter and St. Paul: 
and among the Latins, St. Cyprian, Epist. 70. to 
Januarius: St. Optatus of Milevis, 1. 2. and 7. St 
Ambrose, 1. 10. upon St. Luke; St. Hierome in his 
1st. Book against Jovinian; St. Augustine, 1. 2. de 
Baptismo, c. 1: St. Leo, Epist. 84. to Anastasiusj 
St. Gregory the Great, 1. 4. Epist. 32, &:c. 

Q. How do you prove that St. Peter was to 
have a successor in this office of chief bishop of 
the Church? 

A. Because as Christ established his church to 
remain till the end of the world, St. Matt, xxviii. 
20. so most certainly he designed, that the form of 
government which he established in his church 
should remain for ever. Hence, supposing the 
supremacy of St. Peter, which we have proved 
above from scripture, it cannot be questioned, but 
that our Lord designed that this supremacy, which 
he appointed for the better government of his 
church, and the preserving of unity, should not die 
with Peter, no more than the church, (with which 
he promised to remain for ever,) but should de- 
scend, after St. Peter's decease, to his successors. 
For it is not to be imagined, that Christ should 
appoint a chief bishop for the government of his 
church, and maintaining unity in the Apostles' 
time, and design another kind of government for 
succeeding ages, when there was like to be so 
much greater danger of schism, and consequently 
so much greater need of one head, to preserve all 
in one faith and one communion. 

Q. But how do you prove that the Pope or 
Dishop of Rome is the successor of St. Peter. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 195 

A, I prove it, first, because the church never 
acknowledged any oihcr for her chief pastor; and 
no olher does, or ever did, put in a claim to the 
spiritual supremacy, in quality of St. Peter's suc- 
cessor; so that, supposing what has been proved, 
that Christ appointed a chief pastor of his Church, 
the bishop of Home must be the man. 

Secondly, I prove it from the current sense of 
the holy fathers and councils, that have acknow- 
ledged this supremacy in the see of Rome and her 
bishops. See St. Ignatius, disciple of the Apostles, 
in the beginning of his Epistle to the Romans, 
where he calls the church of Rome the presiding 
church; St. Irenseus, I. 3. c. 3. who calls the same 
the greatest and most ancient church, founded by 
the two most glorious Apostles Peter and Paul; and 
adds, that all sectaries are confounded by the Ro- 
man tradition : for to this church, by reason of its 
more powerful principality, says he, it is neces- 
sary that every church resort, or have recourse; 
in which (church) the apostolical tradition has al- 
ways been preserved by those that are in every 
place; and St. Cyprian, in his 55th Epistle to pope 
Cornelius, where he calls the see of Rome, the 
chair of Peter, and the principal church from 
which the priestly unity has its origin. Ecclesiam 
Princi])alem^ unde TJnitas Sacerdotalis exorta est. 

See also St. Optatus, bishop of Melevis, in his 
2nd Book against Parmenianus, the Donatist Bish- 
op of Carthage: where he thus addresses himself 
to his adversary. You cannot pretend to be igno- 
rant, that Peter held first the bishop's chair in the 
city of Rome, in which Peter, head of all the 
Apostles sat — in which one chair unity might be 
maintained by all, lest the rest of the Apostles 
should each one claim his own separate chair. So 



190 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

that he is now a schismatic, and an offender, who 
against this single chair erects any other. In this 
one chair, which is the first of the properties of 
the church, Peter first sat; to him succeeded Linus, 
lo him Clement, &c. Give you now an account 
of the origin of your chair, you who claim to 
yourselves the holy church. * 

And St. Jerome, writing to pope Damasus,.EpisL 
57. tells him; I am joined in communion with your 
Holiness, that is, with the chair of Peter: upon that 
rock I know the church is built: whoever eats the 
lamb out of this house is profane: whosoever is 
not in (this) Ark shall perish in the deluge, &c. 

And St. Augustine in his Psalm against the 
Donatists thus addresses himself to these schisma- 
tics. Come brethren, says he, if you have a mind 
to be engrafted in the vine, it is a pity to see you 
lopped off in this manner from the stock. Reckon 
up the prelates in the very see of Peter: and in 
that order of fathers see which has succeeded 
which. This is the rock over which the proud 
gates of hell prevail not. And in his 162d Epistle 
he tells the Donatists, that in the see of Rome the 
principality (or supremacy) of the apostolic church 
was ever acknowledged. Semper ApostoIiccB Ca- 
thedrcc viguit Principatus, 

And St. Prosper, in his dogmatic Poem against 
the enemies of grace, calls Rome, the See of Peter, 
which being made to the world the head of pasto- 
ral dignity, rules by religion all that which she 
possesses not by her arms. And to the same effect 
St. Leo the Great, in his first Sermon upon St. 
Peter and St. Paul, thus addresses himself to 
Rome: these are they who have advanced thee to 
this glory, that being made the head of the world, 
by being St. Peter's See, thou hast a wider extent 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 197 

of religious empire than of earthly dominion. Foi 
though by thy many victories thou hast extended 
thy dominions far and near by sea and land, yet 
that which has been subdued by the labour of thy 
arms is not so much as that which has been made 
subject to thee by Christian peace.' All these fa- 
thers, hitherto quoted, flourished within four hun- 
dred years after the passion of Christ. 

The supremacy of the bishops of Rome has also 
been acknowledged by many general councils: as 
by the general Council of Ephesus, in the sen- 
tence of depositions against Nestorius, anno 431, 
by the general Council of Chalcedon, in their 
epistle to St. Leo, anno 451, by the general Coun- 
cil of Constantinople, anno 680, in their epistle to 
pope* Agatha: not to menton the decrees of later 
general councils, especially the fourth of Late ran, 
anno 1215, the second of Lyons, anno 1274, and 
that of Florence, anno 1439. Though as pope 
Galasius, long ago, in the Council of Rome of 
seventy bishops, anno 494, has declared, 'The 
Roman See hath not its pre-eminence over other 
churches from any ordinances of councils, but 
from the words of our Lord and Saviour in the 
gospel, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
build my church,' &c. 

Q. But has the pope or bishop of Rome in every 
age since the days of the Apostles, exercised this 
supremacy over other churches? 

A. Yes, most certainly: in the very age imme- 
diately after the Apostles, that is, in the second 
century, pope Victor threatened to excommunicate 
the bishops of Asia Minor, for keeping Easter at 
an undue time, Eusebius, I. 5. Histor. Eccles. c. 24. 
And though it is probable he relented upon the 
remonstrances of St. Irenseus and others, yet no 

17* 




198 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

one of them all charged him with usurping an 
authority which did not of right belong to him- 
In the third century, St. Cyprian, epist. 67. wrote 
to pope Stephen, desiring him to despatch his let- 
ters into the province and to the people of Aries, 
by which they might be authorized to depose Mar- 
cianus the bishop of Aries, and substitute another 

in his place. Dirigantiir in Provinciam d te 

liierce, quihus ahsente MarcianOy alius in locum ejus 
substituatur. 

In the fourth century, pope Julius cited St. 
Anthanasius, bishop of Alexandria, that is to say, 
the second patriarch of the church, to his Council 
at Rome, to answer the accusations of his adver- 
saries; who accordingly did appear, and was there 
cleared. See St. Athanasius's Apology against the 
Arians, num. 29. p. 148. of the new edition; and 
Theodoret, 1. 2. Hist. c. 3. The same pope, as we 
learn from the historian Socrates, 1. 2. c. 15. and 
Sozomenus, 1. 3. c. fi. about the same time restored 
by his authority to their respective Sees, from 
whence they had been deposed by the Eusebians, 
St. Paul, bishop of Constantinople, St. Lucius, bish- 
op of Adrianople, Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra in 
Galatia, and Asclepas, bishop of Gaza in Palestine; 
and this as Sozomenus expressly words it, because, 
by reason of the dignity of his See, the care of all 
belonged to him. In the fifth century, pope Ceie- 
stine deputed Si. Cyril, Patriach of Alexandria, to 
proceed as his delegate to the excommunication of 
Nestorius, Patriarch of Constinople, torn. 3. Concil, 
Labbe, p. 349. And in the same century, St. John 
Chrysostom, and St. Flavian, both Patriarchs of 
Constantinople, unjustly deposed by numerous coun- 
cils in the East, appealed from their judgment, the 
one to pope Innocent I. the other to pope Leo the 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 199 

Great. See the espistle of St. John Chrysostom to 
pope Innocent, and the 23d epistle of St. Leo. In 
the sixth century, pope Agapetus deposed Anthymus 
Patriarch of Constantinople; not to mention many 
other instances in all these centuries of the exer- 
cise of the pope's jurisdiction over other churches; 
and as for the following ages there is no dispute. 

From all which it follows, that the Protestant 
pretences of the Pope's having received the su- 
premacy from Phocas, the emperor of Constanti- 
nople, who began to reign anno 602, is a ground- 
less fiction, like the idle tale of pope Joan. 

Q. But does not our Lord intimate, St. Luke 
xxii. 24, 25, 26. that amongst his disciples none 
.should be the chief or head. 

A. No; but only that 'he that is the greatest 
should be as the younger, and he that is chief as 
jie that doth serve,' verse 16. Which words, so 
far from denying, evidently suppose a chief; which 
is further confirmed by our Lord's alleging himself 
for an example in the following verse, who was 
most certainly chief. So that what is here recom- 
mended, is not equality of jurisdiction, but humility 
in superiors. 

Q. But does not St. Paul say, 2 Cor. xii. 11. 
*In nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostle, 
though I be nothing;' where was then St. Peter's 
supremacy? 

A. It is visible that St. Paul speaks with regard 
to his labours, miracles and doctrine, in which he 
was inferior to none; but whether St. Peter or he 
had a superior jurisdiction, was foreign to the mat- 
ter he had then in hand, and therefore no wonder 
that he takes no notice of it. 

Q. If St. Peter was head, how come St. Paul to 
withstand him to his face at Antioch, Gal. ii. 11? 



200 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A, Because as the Apostle tells us in the same 
place, he was to blame, viz. in withdrawing him- 
self from the table of the Gentiles, for fear of 
giving offence to the Jews: and this it was that 
St. Paul reprehended, because of the danger of 
the Gentiles taking scandal thereby. But this 
no way disproves St. Peter's superiority, since 
no one doubts, but that a superior, when in fault, 
may sometimes lawfully be reprehended by an 
inferior. 

And, after all, do our adversaries imagine that 
the enhancing the dignity and authority of St. 
Paul makes any thing against the bishop of IlomC; 
who indeed inherits the succession both of St. Peter 
and St. Paul, who both honoured Rome with their 
preaching and with their death? 

Q. But some Protestants doubt whether St. Peter 
ever was at Rome, what say you to this? 

A. Grotius, a learned Protestant, writes that, 
* no christian ever doubted but St. Peter was at 
Rome.' In Synopsi Criticorum, p. 1450. H. And 
Chamierus, another learned Protestant, tells us, 
that "all the fathers with great accord have as- 
serted that Peter went to Rome and governed that 
Church." Omnes Palres magno consensu asserue- 
runt Petrum Romam esse profectutn, eamque Eccle- 
siam administrasse, 1. 13. c. 4. } 2. And Dr. Pear- 
son, the Protestant bishop of Chester, one of the 
most eminent men amongst the Protestant writers 
ever known, has demonstrated, by innumerable 
arguments, that Peter was at Rome, and that the 
bishops of Rome are his successors. See Pearson's 
Opera Posthuma, printed at London, anno 1688, 
p. 27, &c. 

Q. Does the scripture any where affirm that 
St. Peter was at Rome? 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 201 

A, St. Peter's first epistle seems to affirm it, 
chap. V. 13. where, by Babylon, the best interpre- 
ters understand Rome, so called by the Apostle, as 
afterwards by St. John in the Apocalypse, because 
then the chief seat both of the empire and of hea- 
thenish idolatry, as formerly Babylon had been. 
And so this place is understood by St. Papias, dis- 
ciple of the Apostles, and Clement of Alexandria, 
alleged by Euseb. 1. 2. Hist. c. 15. and by St. Hie- 
rome, 1. de Scriptor. in Marco; by venerable Bede, 
(Ecumenius, and others. Nor is there any pro- 
bability that the Babylon here mentioned could be 
that in Chaldaea, which at this time was nothing 
but a heap of ruins, nor that in Egypt, W'hich was 
but a very inconsiderable place in those days, and 
in which no monuments of antiquity give us the 
least hint that St. Peter ever preached. 

But if the scripture had been entirely silent in 
this matter, we have it proved by universal tradi- 
tion, which is the means by which we come to 
the knowledge of the scripture itself And indeed 
there is a more universal tradition for St. Peter's 
being at Rome, than there is for many parts of the 
scripture which Protestants receive: for whereas 
many of the ancient fathers have called in ques- 
tion some books of scripture — for instance the Re- 
velation, the Epistle to the Hebrews, &c. and there 
is scarce any part of the Bible or New Testament 
but what has been rejected by some heretics of old; 
yet we cannot find that St. Peter's being at Rome 
was ever called in question by any single man, 
infidel or christian, catholic or heretic, for thirteen 
or fourteen hundred years after Christ; though 
all heretics and schismatics, as being always ene- 
mies of the church of Rome, would have been most 
glad to have called in question this succession of 



202 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

St. Peter (which the bishops of Rome ever gloried 
in) had not the matter of fact been out of dispute. 

The ancient fathers that have attested St. Peter's 
being at Eome, besides many others, are, St. Ire- 
naus, 1. 3. c. 3; St. Denys, bishop of Corinth; Caius 
and Origen, alleged by Eusebius in his Church 
History, p. 71, 78; Tertullian, 1. de Prsescript, c. 
36. and in Scorpiaco, c. 5; St. Cyprian, Epist. 6!2 
and 55; Arnobius, 1. 2. contra Gentes; Lactan- 
tius, 1. de Morte Persecutorum, c. 2; Eusebius, 1. 2. 
Hist. c. 14. p. 62, 1. 3. c. 4. p. 74; St. Athanasius, 
in Apolog. de fuga sua, p. 331; St. Cyril of Jerusa- 
lem, Catech. 6. p. 54; St. Ambrose, 1. 4; Hexam, 
c. 8; St. Jerome, de Scriptoribus Eccles. in Petro & 
in Marco, and in his Chronicon ad Anncs 43 & 69 
Sulpitius Severus, 1. 2; Hist. St. Augustine, 1. de 
Hser. c. 1. Epist. 63. 1. 2 contra Lit. Petil. c. 61; 
St. John Chrysostom, torn. 6. Hom. 12; Orositus, 
1. 7. c. 6; St. Peter Chrysologus, Epist. ad Eutych; 
St. Optatus, 1. 2. contra Parmenia; Theodoret, in 
Epist. ad Eom. & 1. 1. Hasret. Fab. c. 1, &c. 



CHAPTER XVn. 

OF THE CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY. 

Q. What is the reason why the Catholic Clergy 
are not allowed to marry? 

A, Because at their entering into holy Orders, 
they make a solemn promise to God and the 
church to live continently. Now the breach of 
such a promise as this would be a great sin; 
witness St. Paul, 1 Tim. v. 11, 12. where speak-; 
ing of widows that are for marrying, after hav- 
ing thus engaged themselves to God, he says, 
*They have damnation, because they have cast' 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 203 

off their first faith; that is, their solemn engage- 
ment made to God. 

Q. But why does the church receive none to 
holy Orders, but such as are willing to make this 
solemn engagement? 

A, Because she does not think it proper that 
they, who by their office and function, ought to be 
wholly devoted to the service of God, and the 
care of souls, should be diverted from these duties 
by the distractions of a married life, 1 Cor. vii. 
32, 33. ' He that is unmarried, careth for the 
things that belong to the Lord, how he may please 
the Lord: but he that is married, careth for the 
things that are of the world, how he may please 
his wife.' 

Q. But was it always a law in the church that 
the clergy should abstain for marriage? 

A, It was always a law in the church that bish- 
ops, priests and deacons shall not marry after hav- 
ing received holy Orders; and we hav^ not one 
example, in all antiquity, either in the Greek or 
Latin church of any such marriage; but, it has 
been at some times, and in some places, as at pre- 
sent among the Greeks, permitted for priests and 
deacons, to continue with their wives which they 
had married before their ordination, though even 
this was disallowed by many ancient canons. 

The 27th of the apostolic canons allows none 
of the clergy to marry but those that are in the 
minor orders, that is. Lectors and Cantors. The 
Council of Neocsesarea, which was more ancient 
than that of Nice, in its first canon orders, that 
f a priest marries he would be deposed. The 
Council of Ancyra, which was held about the same 
time, orders the same thing with regard to deacons, 
except they protested at the time of their ordina- 



204 



CATHOLIC CHHISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



tion that they could not live unmarried, and wero 
therefore presumed to be dispensed with by the 
bishop. Concil. Ancyra, Can. 10. 

The great Council of Nice, in the third canon, 
forbids clergymen to have any women in their 
house, except it be mother, sister, or aunt, &c. 
A caution, which would never have been thought 
on, if they had been allowed to have wives. 

In the West, the Council of lUiberis, which was 
held about the close of the third century, canon 33, 
commands bishops, priests, deacons and sub-deacons 
to abstain from their wives, under pain of degra- 
dation. The second Council of Aries, can. 2. or 
dains that no married man be made priest, unless 
he promise conversion, that is, to live continently. 
The second Council of Carthage, can. 2. ordains, 
that bishops, priests and deacons should live con 
tinently, and abstain from their wives; and this 
because the Apostles so taught, and all antiquity 
observed^ Ut quod Apostoli docuerunt, et ipsa ser- 
vavit antiquitas, nos quoque custodiamus. And the 
fifth Council of Carthage, anno 398. can. 2. ordains 
in like manner, that all bishops, priests and dea- 
cons should abstain from their wives, or be de- 
posed. There are many other ancient canons to 
the like effect, as well as decrees of the ancient 
popes; as of Siricius, in his epistle to Himmerius 
bishop of Tarragona, c. 7; of Innocent I. in his 
epistle to Victricius bishop of Roan, c. 9; of St. 
Leo the Great, epist. 82, to Anastasius, c. 3 and 4. 

Hence St. Epiphanius, who flourished in the East 
in the fourth century, in his great work, against 
all heresies, Ifer. 69. writes thus: *The church 
does not admit him to be a deacon, priest, bishop, 
or sub-deacon, though he be a man of one wifa, 
who makes use of cor\jugal embraces.' Ho adds, 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 205 

that this ' is observed in those places chiefly in 
which canons of the church are exactly kept, 
which being directed by the Holy Ghost, aims 
always at that which is most perfect; that those 
who are employed in divine functions may have as 
little as can be of worldly distractions.' And St. 
Jerome, epist. 50. 'Bishops, (says he) priests and 
deacons are chosen either virgins or widowers, 
or from the time of their priesthood perpetually 
chaste.' He aflirms the same in his book against 
Vigilantius, by the name of the churches of the 
East, and of Egypt, and of the see Apostolic; and 
of all bishops, in his book against Jovinianus. See 
also Origen. Hom. 13. upon Numbers; Eusebius, 1. 
1. Demonst. Evang. c. 9; and St. John Chrysos- 
tom, Homil. de PatientiaJob. 

If you ask the reason, why the church has in- 
sisted so much in all ages upon this point of dis- 
cipline, besides the reason alleged above out of 
St. Paul, 1 Cor. vii. 32, 33, 'The reason of single 
life for the clergy,' says Mr. Thorndyke, an emi- 
nent Protestant divine, in his letters at the end of 
Just Weights and Measures, p. 239. ' is firmly 
grounded by the fathers and canons of the church 
upon the precept of St. Paul, forbidding man and 
wife to part, unless for a time to attend unto pray- 
er, 1 Cor. vii. 5. For priests and deacons being 
continually to attend upon occasions of celebrating 
the eucharist, which ought continually to be fre- 
quented; if others are to abstain from the use of 
marriage for a time, then they always.' Thus far 
Mr. Thorndyke. 

Q. But were not the Apostles married? 

A. Some of them were before they were called 
to the apostleship; but we do not find that they 
had any commerce with their wives after they 
1^ 18 



206 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

were called by Christ. St. Jerome expressly af- 
firms that they had not, Epist. 50. And this seems 
to be clear from St. Matt. xix. 27. where St. Peter 
says to our Lord, ^Behold we have forsaken all 
things, and followed thee:' for, that amongst the 
ALL which they had forsaken, wives also were 
comprehended, is gathered from the enumeration 
made by our Saviour in the 29th verse, where he 
expressly nameth wives. 

Q. But does not St. Paul say. Cor. ix. 5. * Have 
we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well 
as other Apostles,' &c? 

A. The Protestant translation has wilfully cor- 
rupted the text in this place; it should have been 
translated a woman, a sister. The Apostle speaks 
not of his wife, for it is visible he had none, from 
1 Cor. vii. 7, 8. But he speaks of such pious 
women, as according to the custom of the Hebrew 
nation, waited upon the Apostles and other teachers, 
serving them in necessaries; as they had done also 
upon our Lord in the time of his mortal life, see 
St. Luke viii. 2, 3. Though St. Paul, that he 
might be less burthensome to the faithful, chose 
rather to serve himself and live by the work of 
his own hands. 

Q. Does not the Apostle, 1 Tim. iii. 2. and 12, 
require that bishops and deacons should be *the 
husbands of one wife?' 

A, The meaning of the Apostle is not that every 
bishop, priest or deacon should have a wife; for 
he himself had none; and he declares, 1 Cor. vii. 
8. ' I say to the unmarried and widows, it is good 
for them if they abide even as I.' But his mean- 
ing is, that none should be admitted to be a bishop, 
priest or deacon, that had been married more than 
once; which law has ever since been observed in 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 207 

the Catholic Church: for since it was not possible 
in those days of the first preaching of the gos- 
pel (when there were few or no converts, either 
among the Jews or Gentiles, but such as were 
married) to have found a sufficient number of pro- 
per ministers, if they had not admitted married 
men, they were consequently obliged to admit 
such to the ministry; but still with this limitation, 
provided they had not been twice married. But 
now the church has a sufficient number of such as 
are trained up to a single life, and are willing to 
embrace perpetual continency; and therefore pre- 
fers such to the ministry, and is authorized so to 
do by the Apostle, 1 Cor. vii. 32, 33, 38. And if, 
after having consecrated themselves to God in this 
kind of life, they should be for looking back, and 
engaged in a married life, they are expressly con- 
demned by the same Apostle, 1 Tim. v. 12. 

Q. Is it not said, Heb. xiii. 6. * Marriage is 
honourable in all?' 

A. The Protestant translation has strained the 
text to make it say more thari the original, which 
may full as well be rendered in the imperative 
mood, thus: Met marriage be honourable in all, and 
the bed undefiled; for whoremongers and adulter- 
ers God will judge;' as the next verse which is 
rendered in the Protestant translation by the im- 
perative, Met your conversation be without cove- 
tousness,' &c. So that the true meaning of this 
text is, that married persons should not dishonour 
their holy state by any liberties contrary to the 
sanctity of it; but not to allow marriage to those 
who have chosen the better part, and consecrated 
themselves by vow to God. 

Q. But is not forbiding marriage called a doc- 
trine of devils? 1 Tim. iv. 3. 



208 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED, 

A, It certainly was so in those of whom the 
Apostle there speaks, viz. the Gnostics, the Mar- 
cionites, the Encratites, the Manicheans, and many 
other heretics, who absolutely condemned marri- 
age as the work of the devil. For pur part, no 
body reverences marriage more than we do; for 
we hold it to be a sacrament, and forbid it to none 
but to those, that have voluntarily renounced it to 
consecrate themselves more wholly to the divine 
service: and in such as these St. Paul condemns it 
as much as we; see 1 Tim. v. 12. That these 
same heretics also condemned absolutely the use 
of all kinds of meat, not on fasting days only, (as 
was also practised by the church) but at any time 
whatsoever; because they looked upon all flesh to 
be from an evil principle. So that it is evident 
these were the men of whom the Apostle, 1 Tim. 
iv. intended to speak. 

Q. But do you think that a vow of continency 
so strictly obliges any person, that it would be a 
sin in such a person to marry? 

A. Yes, most certainly; because the law of God 
and nature requires that we should keep our vows 
to God, Deut. xxiii. 21, 22, 23. 'When thou shalt 
vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt 
not slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will 
surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in 
thee. But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be 
no sin in thee. That which is gone out of thy 
lips thou shalt keep and perform.' Psal. Ixxvi. 11, 
^Vow and pay unto the Lord your God.' Eccles. 
V. 4. 'Pay that which thou hast vowed. Better 
it is that thou shouldst not vow, than that thou 
shouldst vow and not pay.' For if it be a crime 
to break our faith with man, how much more with 
Godt If you say, that the state of continency is 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 209 

not more acceptable to God than that of marriage, 
and therefore cannot be the proper matter of a 
vow, you contradict the doctrine of the Apostle, 
I Cor. vii. 38. 'He that giveth his virgin in mar- 
-iage, doth well j but he that giveth her not, doth 
letter.' 

Hence St. Augustine, 1. de Bono Viduitatis, c, 11. 
affirms, that the breach of such a vow of chastity, 
rs wors© than adultery: and St. John Chrysostom 
(ad Theodorum Lapsum) 'Though you call it 
marriage a thousand times, yet 1 maintain it is 
much worse than adultery.' Hence the Council 
of Illiberis, can. 13; the fourth Council of Car- 
thage, can. 104; and the great Council of Chalce- 
don, can. 15. excommunicate those who presume 
to marry after such a vow. What would the 
Church of those ages have thought of a religion 
introduced into the world by men that had noto- 
riously broken through those most solemn engage- 
ments, and who raised the fabric of their pretend- 
ed reformation upon thousands of broken vows? 

Q. But all have not the gift of continency; why 
then should the first reformers be blamed, if, find- 
ing they had not this gift, they ventured upon 
marrying with nuns? 

A, Continency is not required of all, but such as 
have by vow engaged to keep it: and therefore, 
before a person engages himself by vow, he ought 
certainly to examine whether he has a call from 
God, and whether he can go through with what he 
thinks of undertaking: but after he has once en- 
gaged himself by vow, he is not now at liberty to 
go back: but may assure himself, that the gift of 
continence will not be denied him, so that he uses 
proper means to obtain and preserve it, particu- 
larly prayer and mortification, which because Lu- 

18* 



210 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Iher laid aside, by quitting his canonical hours of 
prayer and other religious exercises, to which he 
had been accustomed in his convent, no wonder 
if he lost the gift of continency, which he owns 
he enjoyed whilst he was a popish friar, ' Whilst I 
was a religious (says he) I observed chastity, obe- 
dience and poverty: and, in short, being wholly 
disengaged from the cares of this present life, I 
wholly gave myself up to fasting, watching and 
prayer; In Gal. 1. 15. t. 5. Witemb. fol. 291. 2. 
But as soon as he commenced reformer, to demon- 
strate that he was changed for the worse, he de- 
clares, he had so' far lost this gift, that he could 
not possibly live without a woman. Sermon, de 
Matrim. t. 5. fol. 119. 1. 

Q. But does not Christ say, concerning conti- 
nency, St. Matt. xix. 11. *A11 men cannot receive 
this saying:' and St. Paul, Cor. vii. 9. 'If they 
cannot contain, let them marry; for it is better to 
marry than to burn?' 

A. No: both these texts are wilfully corrupted 
in the Protestant Testament. Where he speaks 
not of such as have vowed chastity, but of other 
Christians, whom he advises rather to marry than 
to burn with unlawful lust here, and for unlawful 
lust hereafter. And the same advice is most fre- 
quently inculcated by Catholic divines. But as for 
those that have vowed chastity, they must make use 
of other means to prevent this burning, particu- 
larly prayer and fasting. But what a wretched 
case must that of the adversaries of the celibacy 
of the clergy be, when to maintain it they have in 
so many places wilfully corrupted the scripture? 
and what a melancholy case it must be, that so 
many thousands of w^ell meaning souls should be 
wretchedly deluded with the pretence of God's 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 21 1 

pwre word, when instead of this, they have no- 
thing put in their hands but corrupted transla- 
tions, which present them with a mortal poison, 
instead of the food of life? 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS AND CONFRATERNITIES. 

Q. What is the meaning of so many religious 
Orders in the Catholic Church, under different 
denominations; are not all Catholics of the same 
religion? 

A, Yes, certainly, all Catholics, and consequent- 
ly all these religious, though called by different 
denominations, are all of one religion, professing 
one and the same faith, acknowledging one and the 
same Church-authority, and all the decisions of the 
Church; subject to one and the same head, and 
closely united together in one communion. 

Q. In what then do^hese religious Orders differ 
one from another, if they are all of one religion? 

A. They differ in having different rules and 
constitutions prescribed by their respective foun- 
ders; different habits; different exercises of devo- 
tion and penance; different institutes; some wholly 
sequestered from the world, and addicted to prayer 
and contemplation; others employed in preaching, 
teaching and converting souls; others tending the 
sick, redeeming captives, &c. so as to make a 
beautiful variety in the Church of God of different 
companions, all tending towards Christian perfec- 
tion, though by different exercises, according to 
the spirit of their respective institutes. 

Q. Are not all these religious consecrated to 
God by certain vows? 



212 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



-4, Yes: there are three vows which are com- 
mon to them all, viz. of poverty, chastity and obe- 
dience. By the vow of poverty, they renounce 
all property in the things of this world, so as to 
have nothing at their own disposal ; by the vow of 
chastity they renounce all carnal pleasures; and 
by the vow of obedience, they give up their own 
will to follow that of God in the person of their 
superior. 

Q. How do we know that this voluntary pov- 
erty, perpetual chastity, and entire obedience, are 
agreeable to God? 

A. That voluntary poverty, or renouncing the 
goods and possessions of this world, is agreeable to 
God, is evident from St. Matt. xix. 21. 'If thou 
jvilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hast, and give 
to the poor, and thou shalt have a treasure in 
heaven: and come and follow me.' That perpe- 
tual chastity is agreeable to God, is no less evi- 
dent, from St. Matt. xix. 12. ' There be eunuchs, 
which have made themselves eunuchs for the king- 
dom of heaven's sake — he t^at is able to receive it, 
let him receive it.' And that an entire obedience 
to lawful superiors must needs be agreeable to the 
divine Majesty, is evident, because obedience is 
better than sacrifice; since by obedience we give 
up to God, and for God, that which is naturally 
most dear to us, viz. our liberty, and that which 
stands most in the way of our soul's welfare, viz. 
our own will and self-love. 

Q. Ought any Christians to embrace this state 
of life without a call from God? 

A, No, certainly; it would be rashness to atj 
tempt it. 

Q. How shall any person know if he have a 
call from God to this state of life? 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 213 

A, By consulting God, his director, and his own 
heart In choosing a state of life every one ought 
to consult God, in the first place, by fervent prayer, 
begging daily of him like the convert: St. Paul, 
Acts ix. 6. 'Lord! what wilt thou have me to do?' 
He ought also to consult with a virtuous and pru- 
dent director, and to lay open to him the inclina- 
tions of his heart, and the motives upon which he 
is inclined to embrace this kind of life; for there is 
no better proof of a call from God than when a 
person, after having consulted God by prayer, 
finds in himself a strong inclination to a religious 
life, and that for a long time, and upon motives 
which have nothing in them of self-love, but are 
such as could not be suggested but by the grace 
of God. 

Q. What are the motives upon which a Chris- 
tian should embrace a religious life? 

A. To do penance for his sins; to fly from the 
dangers and corruptiotis of this wicked world: to 
consecrate himself wholly to the service of God, 
and sanctify himself by the exact observance of his 
vows, and all the exercises of a religious life; and 
to tend without ceasing to Christian perfection. 

Q. But may it not be feared, that young persons 
may too rashly engage themselves by vows in a 
\\ religious state for which they are not fit? 

A. To prevent this inconvenience, the Catholic 
Church suffers none to be professed in any order 
of men or women without a year's noviceship, by 
way of probation or trial. 

Q. Is a religious state of life very ancient in 
the Church of God? 

A. Yes, very ancient; for not to mention St. 
John Baptist's life in the wilderness, St. Luke i. 
30. and the lives of the first Christians of Jerusa- 



214 CATHOLIC CHKISTI AN INSTRUCTED. 

lem, who had all things in common, and sold their 
possessions and goods, continuing daily with one 
accord in the temple, &c.' Acts ii. 44, 45, 46, in 
which they exhibit a specimen of a religious life; 
we learn from the most certain monuments of 
antiquity, that even in the three first centuries 
there were religious men, whom Eusebius calls 
Ascetse, and great numbers of nuns or virgins con- 
secrated to God; though neither the one nor the 
other was as yet formed into the regular monas- 
teries till the beginning of the fourth century. 

About the middle of the third century, St. Paul 
the first hermit, flying from the fury'of the perse- 
cution begun by Decius, in the year 289, retired 
into the desert of Thebais, and there passed ninety 
years and upwards in a lonesome cave, in con- 
versation with God. His wonderful life is extant^ 
written by St. Jerome. 

About the year 271, St. Anthony, a young gen- 
tleman of Egypt, left his estate and the world to 
consecrate himself to a religious life. He found, 
at his first retirement, some others that had al- 
ready undertaken that kind of life, though few in 
number, and those living near the towns or villa- 
ges; but he, by his example, drew great numbers 
after him into the desert, and is generally looked 
upon as the author and father of a monastic life. 
His life is written by the great St. Athanasius, and 
is full of excellent lessons of spirituality. 

About the year 313, St. Pachomius retired from 
the world, and after having lived some time in 
solitude with St. Palemon, became the father of 
many religious, and the first founder of the famous 
congregation of Tabenne, to which he prescribed a 
rule which he had received from an angel. 
. ...From these beginnings, the deserts of Egypt 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTS). 215 

and of Thebais, soon were peopled with innumer- 
able solitaries, and all those parts were full of reli- 
gious of both sexes of admirable virtue,* insomuch, 
that when Rufinus visited those countries in the 
latter end of the fourth century, he found in the 
city of Oxyrincus alone, ten thousand religious 
men, and twenty thousand nuns. 

From Egypt this kind of life, so agreeable to the 
principles of the gospel, and the spirit of Christian- 
ity, quickly spread itself through all parts of the 
world inhabited by christians. St. Hilarian, hav- 
ing learned St. Anthony's way of living, began to 
practise the like in Palestine about the beginning 
of the fourth century; and that country also was 
quickly replenished with religious men and wo- 
men: whilst St. James, afterwards bishop of Nisi- 
bis, St. Julian Sabas, and other great servants of 
God, whose lives and miracles are recorded by 
Theodoret in his Philotheus, propagated the same 
way of living in Syria and Mesopotamia. About 
the same time, or not long after, the deserts of 
Pontus and Cappadocia began also to be inhabited 
by religious men, whose manner of life was em- 
braced by those two great lights of the church, St. 
Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil, the latter of 
which composed an excellent rule for his religious, 
professed to this day by the Greek and Russian 
monks, and by some in Poland and Italy. 

As for the Western parts of the church, we find 
that the monastic life had already gained a great 
footing there in the fourth century. St. Augustine 
|informs us of a monastery near the walls of Milan, 
Yull of good religious men, under the care of St. 
Ambrose, 1. 8. Confess, ch^. 6 ; and of several such 
religious societies at Rome,^ his book of the man- 
I ners of the Catholic Church, chap. 33; and of a 



216 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



h''^ 



religious house near Treves, in Germany, where 
two courtiers, upon reading the life of St. Anthony, 
consecrated themselves to God, 1. 8. Confess, c. 6. 
And the same St. Augustine, upon his return into 
Africa, after his conversion, propagated the same 
kind of life in that part of the world also. 

In France, the great St. Martin, bishop of Tours, 
in the fourth century, whose apostolic life and 
miracles are recorded by Sulpicius Severus, found- 
ed the monastery of Marmoutier, in which he 
united together in one the clerical and monastical 
life, as St. Eusebius had done before him at Ver- 
celli in Piedmont. But the most famous monastery 
in all France was that of the isle of Lerines, found- 
ed towards the close of the fourth century, by St. 
Honoratus, afterwards bishop of Aries; which was 
the fruitful parent of many, great saints and illus- 
trious prelates. 

As for our British islands, though we know not 
the particular time when the first monasteries 
began to be established, yet we are assured, that 
we were not long behind our neighbours in en>- 
bracing this kind of life. The monastery of Ban- 
gor, in Wales, in which there were above two 
thousand monks was very * ancient; and we aro 
told of an ancient monastery at Winchester, be- 
fore the Saxons came over into this land. As for 
Ireland, St. Patrick who established Christianity 
there, settled also the monastic discipline amongst 
his converts; which from thence was propagated 
to the Picts in Scotland, by St. Columba, alias 
Columkil, the apostle of that natfon, who having 
first founded in Ireland the famous abbey Dear- 
mach, afterwards passing into Scotland, founded 
that of the isle of Hy^from which two monas- 
teries, many others, as well in Ireland as in Scot- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 217 

land, had their origin, as following the institute of 
the aforesaid St. Columba, of whom Ven. Bede, in 
his third book of Ecclesiastical History of the Eng- 
lish Church, chap, 4. writes thus: ^ Of whose life 
and words (he speaks of St. Columba) some writ- 
ings are said to be preserved by his disciples. But 
whatsoever he was himself, this we know of him 
for certain, that he has left successors renowned 
for much continency, the love of God, and regular 
observance.' 

From this monastery of the isle of Hy, St. Ai- 
dan, the first bishop of Lindisfarn, and many other 
apostolic preachers came, who preached and estab- 
lished Christianity among the Northern English, 
as St. Augustine and his companions did amongst 
those of the South, St. Felix amongst the East Eng- 
lish, and St. Birinus amongst those of the West. 

Q. I should be glad to know which are the chief 
religious Orders that flourish at present in the 
church of God; together with the names of their 
founders, the time of their first institution, &c. 

A. I shall endeavour to satisfy you as briefly 
as I can. And, first, as to the East. The Orders 
that flourish there, are those of St. Anthony, and 
of St. Basil, of which we have spoken already. 

In the West St. Augustine, upon his return into 
Africa, about the year 390, with divers others his 
companions, entered into a religious society, where- 
in he lived for three years before his coming to 
Hippo. And after his coming to that city, where 
he was first made priest, and afterwards bishop, he 
erected a monastery within his own house, living 
there with his clergy in common; to which insti- 
tute the c^anon regulars of Saint Augustine owe 
their original, who have flourished ever since in 
the church of God, and have branched out into 



218 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

divers congregations, as that of Saint John Latern, 
that of Saint Victor, of Saint Genovesa, <Stc. As 
the hermits of St. Augustine's Order, commonly 
called Austin friars, derive their institute from his 
first religious society, before his coming to Hippo, 
those hermits were translated from the desert in- 
to towns, by pope Innocent the fourth, to the end 
that their godly conversation might be more pro- 
fitable to their neighbours. From this Order Lu- 
ther apostatized in the sixteenth century, and like 
the dragon; Revel, xii. ver. 4. <Drew with him the 
third part of the stars of heaven,' (that is, great 
numbers of religious of all denominations) 'and 
cast them to the earth.' 

Towards the end of the fifth century, St. Bene- 
dict, vulgo Bennet, retired from the world; and 
after having practised for many years a religious 
life in a most eminent degree of perfection, founded 
twelve monasteries in Latium; and the thirteen 
at Mount Cassini, in the kingdom of Naples, from 
which he happily passed to the mountain of eter- 
nity, in the sixth century. He composed an excel- 
lent rule, which was afterwards embraced by al- 
most all the religious of the West, till towards the 
twelfth century; and has furnished the church of 
God with innumerable prelates and apostolic men, 
and heaven with innumerable saints. The won- 
derful life of St. Benedict was written by St. Gre- 
gory the Great in his dialogues. 

From the rule of St. Benedict many other Or- 
ders have sprung besides the Benedictines, as the 
Cluniacenses, so called from their first abbey of 
'Cluny in France. These were instituted by St. 
Odo, in the tenth century, and for a long time 
flourished in great sanctity. The Camaldulenses, 
instituted by St. Romuald, amongst the Apennino 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 219 

mountains, about the year 1000, and to this day 
edifying the church, yielding a sweet odour of 
sanctity to all that come near them. The monks 
of Valombrosa, instituted by St. John Gaulbert, in 
the eleventh century, and called from the place of 
their first institution. The Cistercians, so called 
from their first abbey, founded about the end of 
the eleventh century, by St. Robert, abbot of Mo- 
lesme in France. St. Robert being obliged to re- 
turn to his abbey of Molesme, left for his succes- 
sor St. Albericus, who was succeeded by St. Steven 
Harding, an Englishman, who had the happiness 
to receive St. Bernard into his society, by whose 
preaching and miracles this Order was wonder- 
fully propagated, and the religious of it, from him 
are commonly called Bernard ines. Of this Order 
is the famous abbey of La Trappe in France, which 
in these, our days, has renewed the austerities and 
abstracted lives of the primitive religious. I pass 
over several other religious professing the rule of 
St. Benedict, as the Silvesterines, the Grandimon- 
tenses, the Celestines, so called from St. Peter Ce- 
lestine, their founder, the Olivetants, &c. 

Towards the end of the eleventh century, St. 
Bruno, a doctor of Paris, with six companions, 
retired from the world to the desert mountains of 
Carthusia, in the diocese of Grenoble in Dauphine, 
and there laid the foundation of the Order of the 
Carthusians, formerly in England called the Char- 
terhouse monks j who to this day have happily pre- 
served their primitive fervor, keeping perpetual 
silence (only when they are singing the praises 
of God) perpetual abstinence, wearing always a 
rough hair-shirt, and continually employed in 
prayer and contemplation. 

About the year 1120, St. Norbert, who had ex- 



220 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

changed the court life, for the voluntary poverty 
recommended by the Gospel, founded an Order of 
Canon regulars, from him called Norbertines, and 
Premontratenses, from Premontr6, the place of 
their first abbey, in the diocese of Laon in France. 

In the same age also wsls instituted in France 
the Order of the Blessed Trinity, for the redemp- 
tion of captives out of the hands of infidels, by St. 
John de Matha and St. Felix de Valois, two holy 
priests and solitaries invited to this charitable 
work by divine visions. As in the following age 
another Order was instituted in Spain for the same 
end, by St. Peter Nolascus. This is commonly 
called, the Order of our Lady de Mercede, or of 
the Redemption. 

About the year 1200, the Carmelites were first 
brought into Europe, and were quickly spread 
through all parts of Christendom, where they 
have flourished exceedingly: no where more than 
heretofore in England, where from the colour 
of their mantles they were called white friars. 
These were originally hermits living upon Mount 
Carmel, who whilst the christians were in posses- 
sion of Syria and the Holy Land, were assembled 
together by Aimeric the patriarch of Antioch, and 
received a rule from Albert patriarch of Jerusa- 
lem. This rule was afterwards mitigated by the 
pope; but embraced again in its full extent by St. 
Teresa, in the sixteenth century, and by the friars 
and nuns that follow her reform, and are called 
Discalced, or Barefoot Carmelites. 

Not long after the Carmelites coming into Eu- 
rope, God was pleased to raise two new Orders, 
which have flourished from that time to this day; 
and furnished the church with several popes, in- 
numerable cardinals, bishops, ecclesiastical writers, 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTKUCTED. 221 

and apostolic men; and have both been very fruit- 
ful in saints, viz. the Order of St. Dominick, and 
that of St. Francis. The Dominicans, or Friars 
Preachers, were instituted for preaching the Gos- 
pel to infidels and sinners, which they have done 
with great success. These were formerly, in our 
country, called Black Friars, from the colour of 
their cloak or outward habit, which is black, as 
the Franciscans, were called Grey Friars. St. 
Francis would have his religious, for humility, 
called Friars Minors, whom he trained up in great 
poverty and penance. And so great and speedy 
was the increase of this Order, that in a chapter 
held by the saint himself, at Assisium, there were 
assembled no less than five thousand reliorious. 
This Order at present is the most numerous in 
the church of God, and is divided into three chief 
branches, under their respective generals, viz. the 
Conventuals, the Observants, and the Capuchins. 
The Observants are again sub-divided into Corde- 
liers, Recollects, &c. Besides which, there is the 
congregation of St. Peter of Alcantara, which is the 
strictest of all. The nuns, who follow the rule of 
St. Francis, are commonly called Poor Clares, from 
St. Clare, who first received the habit from St. 
Francis, and was the first abbess. Besides these 
there are Capuchinesses or Penitents nuns, of the 
third Order of St. Francis, &c. 

Other Orders that have been founded between 
the beginning of the thirteenth century and the 
sixteenth, are the Servites, or servants of the 
blessed Virgin, instituted about 1232, by seven 
gentlemen of Florence, who retired themselves ta 
a neighbouring mountain to do penance; the Cruci- 
geri, or Crutched Friars, though these, by some- 
are supposed to have been much more ancient;. 



222 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

the Jesuali instituted by St. John Colombin, anno 
1356; the Brigiitins, by St. Brigit, anno 1360; the 
Hieronnimites, by Pedro Ferdinando, anno 1383; 
the Minims, by St. Francis of Paula, about the 
year 1460, &c. 

The sixteenth century gave rise to "several new, 
Orders: the Theatins, or Regular Clerks, were 
instituted anno 1528, St. Cajetanus Thianseus, a 
n^an of apostolic life. This Order flourishes very 
much in Italy, as well as the Barnabites or Clerics 
Regular of St. Paul. 

The Jesuits, or Society of Jesus, were instituted 
by St. Ignatius of Loyola anno 1540, as a troop, 
or company of auxiliaries, to assist the pastoral 
clergy in that time of the church's greatest neces- 
sity; to labour in the conversion and sanctification 
of souls; to train up youth in piety and learning; 
to defend the faith against heretics, and propagate 
it amongst infidels: in all which particulars, this 
Order has done signal services to the church in 
these two last centuries. 

About the same time, St. John de Deo founded 
an Order of religious brethren, to take care of the 
sick, and to provide for them all necessary assis- 
tance both for soul and body. 

In the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
St. Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva, instituted 
the Order of the nuns of the Visitation of the 
blessed Virgin. And thus have I given you a 
short account of the chief orders that flourish in 
! the church. 

Besides these religious Orders, there are cer- 
tain regular congregations of clergy living in 
common, though not under the tie of religious 
•vows; as, the Oratorians, instituted by St. Philip 
.'Neriusj'in the sixteenth century; the Fathers of 



CATHOLIC CHEISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 223 

the Christian Doctrine; the Lazarians, or Fathers 
of the Mission, &;c. 

Q. Are there not also many confraternities 
amongst the Catholics, in which many of the laity 
are enrolled; pray what is the meaning of these 
confraternities? 

A, These confraternities, or brotherhoods, are 
certain societies or associations, instituted for the 
encouragement of devotion, or for promoting of 
certain works of piety, religion and charity, under 
some rules or regulations, though without being 
tied to them, so far as that the breach or neglect 
of them would be sinful. The good of these con- 
fraternities is, that thereby good works are pro- 
moted, the faithful are encouraged to frequent the 
sacraments, to hear the word of God, mutually to 
assist one another by their prayers, &c. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY, AND OF THE 
NUPTIAL BENEDICTION. 

Q. When was matrimony instituted? 

A, It was first instituted by God Almighty be- 
tween our parents in the earthly Paradise, Gen. 
ii. and this institution was confirmed by Christ 
in the New Testament, St. Matt. xix. 4, 5, 6, 
where he concludes, 'What God hath joined to- 
gether, let no man put asunder.' And our Lord, 
to shew that this state is holy, and not to be 
condemned or despised, was pleased to honour it 
with his first miracle, wrought at the wedding of 
Cana, St. John ii. 

Q. What are the ends for which matrimony is 
instituted? 



224 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A. For the procreation of children, which may 
serve God here, and people heaven hereafter; for 
a remedy against concupiscence, and for the bene- 
fit of conjugal society, that m.an and wife may 
mutually help one another, and contribute to one 
^another's salvation. 

i Q. How do you prove that matrimony is a sa- 
crament? 

A, Because it is a conjunction made and sancti- 
fied by God himself, and not to be dissolved by any 
power of man, as being a sacred sign or mys- 
terious representation of the indissoluble union of 
Christ and his church. Hence St. Paul, Eph. v. 
31, 32. expressly calls it a 'great sacrament or 
mystery,' with regard to Christ and his church; 
and as such it has been always acknowledged in 
the Catholic Church. See St. Ambrose, 1. 1. de 
Abraham, c. 7; St. Augustine, 1. de Bono Conjug. 
c. 18 and 24. 1. de Fide et Operibus, c. 17. 1. de 
Nuptis et Concep. 10. &c. 

Q. Does matrimony give grace to those that 
receive it? 

A, Yes, if they receive it in the dispositions that 
they ought, it gives a grace to the married couple 
to love one another according to God, to restrain 
the violence of concupiscence, to bear with one 
another's weaknesses, and to bring up their chil* 
dren in the fear of God. 

Q. How comes it then that some marriages 
are unhappy, if matrimony be a sacrament which 
gives so great a grace? 

A. Because the greatest part do not receive it in 
the dispostions they ought: they consult not Go4 
in their choice, but only their own lust or tempo- 
ral interest; they prepare not themselves for it, by 
putting themselves in the state of grace; and too 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 225 

often are guilty of freedoms before marriage, which 
are not allowable by the law of God. 

Q. In what dispositions ought persons to receive 
the sacrament of matrimony? 

A, They ought to be in a state of grace, by con- 
fession: their intention ought to be pure, viz. to 
embrace this holy state for the ends for which 
God instituted it; and if they be under the carfe of 
parents, &c. they ought to consult them, and do 
nothing in this kind without their consent. 

Q. In what manner does the Catholic Church 
proceed in the administration of matrimony? 

A, First, she orders that the banns should be 
proclaimed on three Sundays, or festival days, 
before the celebration of marriage; to the end, 
that if any one knows any impediment why the 
parties may not, by the law of God, or his church, 
be joined in matrimony, he may declare it. 

Secondly, the parties are to be married by their 
own parish priest, in the presence of two or three 
witnesses. 

Thirdly, the parties express, in the presence of 
the priest, their mutual consent; according to the 
usual form of the church; after which the priest 
says, I join you ijj matrimony, in the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
Amen. 

Fourthly, the priest blesses the ring according 
to this form. 

F. Our help is in the name of the Lord. 

A. Who made heaven and earth. 

F. O Lord! hear my prayer. 

A. And let my cry come to thee. 

F. The Lord be with you. 

A, And with thy spirit. 



226 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Let us pray. 

Bless, >Ji Lord! this ring, which we bless »J* 
in thy name, that she that shall wear it, keeping 
inviolable fidelity to her spouse, may ever remain 
in peace and in thy will, and always live in mu- 
tual charity. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Then the priest sprinkles the ring with holy 
water; and the bridegroom taking it, puts it on the 
fourth finger of the left hand of the bride, saying, 
^ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost. Amen.' Here also, according 
to the custom of Ireland, the bridegroom puts some 
gold and silver into the hand of the bride, saying, 
* With this ring I thee wed, this gold and silver 
I give thee, and with all my worldly goods I 
Ihee endow.' 

After this the priest says, F. Confirm, O God ! 
this which thou hast wrought in us. A. From thy 
holy temple which is in Jerusalem. Lord ! have 
mercy on us. Christ! have mercy on us. Lord! 
have mercy on us. Our Father, &c. And lead 
us not into temptation. A, But deliver us from 
evil. V. Save thy servants. A. Trusting in thee, 
O my God! F. Send them help, O Lord! from 
thy sanctuary. A. And defend them from Sion. 
F. Be to them, O Lord! a tower of strength. A, 
Against the face of the enemy. F. O Lord ! hear 
my prayer. A, And let my cry come to thee. F. 
The Lord be with you. A. And with thy spirit. 

Let us pray. 

Look down, O Lord! we beseech thee, upon 
those thy servants, and afford thy favourable as- 
sistance to thy own institution, by which thou hast 
ordained the propagatioq of mankind; and that 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 227 

they, who are joined together by thy authority, 
may be preserved by thy aid. Through Christ 
our Lord. Amen. 

Fifthly, after this, if the nuptial .benediction is 
to be given, the priest says the Mass appointed in 
the Missal, for the bridegroom and the bride; and 
having said the Pater Nosier , turning about to the 
new married couple, he says over them the follow- 
ing prayers. 

Let us pray. 

Mercifully give ear, O Lord! to our prayers, 
and let thy grace accompany this thy institution, 
by which thou hast ordained the propagation of 
mankind; that this tie, which is made by thy au- 
thority, may be preserved by thy grace. Through 
our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. 

Let us pray. 

O God! who by thy omnipotent hand didst create 
all things of nothing; who at the first forming of 
the world, having made man to the likeness of 
God, didst out of his flesh make the woman, and 
give her to him for his help, and by this didst 
inform us that what in its beginning was one, 
ought never be separated: O God! who by so ex- 
cellent a mystery hast consecrated this union of 
both sexes, that thou wouldst have it be a type of 
that great sacrament which is betwixt Christ and 
his church: O God! by whom this contract and 
mutual commerce has been ordained, and privi- 
leged with a blessing, which alone has not been 
recalled, either in punishment of original sin, or 
by the sentence, of the flood, mercifully look on 
this thy servant the bride, who being now to be 
given in marriage, earnestly desires to be received 



228 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

under thy protection. May love and peace abound 
in her, may she marry in Christ faithful and 
chaste, may she ever imitate those holy women 
of former times, may she be as acceptable to her 
husband as Rachel, as discreet as Rebecca, may 
she in her years and fidelity be like Sarah, and 
may the author of evil at no time have any share 
in her actions; may she be steady in faith and the 
commandments; may she be true to her engage- 
ments, and flee all unlawful addresses; may she 
fortify her infirmity by thy discipline, may she be 
gravely bashful, venerably modest, and well learn- 
ed in the doctrine of heaven; may she be fruitful 
in her offspring; may she be approved and inno- 
cent; and may her happy lot be to arrive at length 
to the rest of the blessed in the kingdom of heaven; 
may they both see their children's children to the 
third and fourth generation, and live to a happy old 
age. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, &c. 

After the priest's communion, they both receive 
the blessed sacrament, and in the end of the Mass, 
before the usual blessing of the people, the priest 
turns to the bridegroom and bride, and says. 

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the 
God of Jacob be with you, and may he fulfil his 
blessing in you, that you may see your children's 
children to the third and fourth generation, and 
afterwards enter into the possession of everlasting 
life, by the help of our Lord Jesus Christ; who, 
with the Father; and the Holy Ghost, liveth and 
reigneth God for ever and ever. Amen. 

Then the priest admonishes them to be faithful 
to one another, to love one another, and to live 
in the fear of God, and exhorts them to be con- 
tinent, by mutual consent, at the times of devo- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 229 

tion, and especially at the times of fasting, ant^ 
of great solemnities, and so he finishes the Mas? 
in the usual manner. 

Q. Is there any obligation of receiving thi? 
nuptial benediction when persons are married? 

A, The church wishes that it were never omit 
ted in the first marriage, when it may be had, be- 
cause of the blessing it draws down from heaven, 
and it would certainly be a fault for persons to 
marry without it, when and where it may be had. 

Q- Why does not the church allow of this nup- 
tial benediction, when the man or woman has been 
once married before? 

A, Before the second marriage does not so per- 
fectly represent the union of Christ and his church, 
which is an eternal tie of one to one. 

Q. Why does not the church allow of the so- 
lemnity of marriage from the first Sunday of Ad- 
vent till after Twelfth day, and from Ash- Wednes- 
day till after Low-Sunday? 

A. Because the times of Advent and Lent are 
times of penance, as the times of Christmas and 
Easter are times of extraordinary devotion, and 
therefore are not proper for marriage feasts, or 
such like solemnities. 

Q. What are the duties of married people to 
one another? 

A, You shall hear them from Scripture. 

Ephes. V. 22. ^Let women be subject to their 
husbands, as to the Lord.' Ver. 23. 'Because the 
man is the head of the woman, as Christ is the 
head of the church: he is the Saviour of his body.' 
Ver. 24. ' Therefore, as the church is subject to 
Christ, so also let women be to their husbands in 
all things.' Ver. 25. 'Husbands love your wives, 
as Christ also loved the church, and delivered him- 

20 



230 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

self for it.' Ver. 28. ^So ought also husbands to 
love their wives as their own bodies: he that 
loveth his wife, loveth himself.' Ver. 29. ' For no 
one ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it, 
and cherisheth it, as Christ also doth the church.' 
Ver. 30. 'Because we are members of his body, of 
his flesh, and of his bones.' Ver. 31. 'For this 
cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, 
and shall adhere to his wife, and they shall be two 
in one flesh.' (Gen. ii.) Ver. 32. 'This sacrament 
is great, but I say in Christ and in the church.' 
Ver. 33. ' However, let every one of you in parti- 
cular love his wife as himself; and let the wife 
reverence the husband.' See to the same effect, 
Colos. iii. 18, 19. 

1 St. Peter iii. 11. 'Let women be subject to 
their husbands, to the end, that if any believe not 
the word, they be gained without the word by the 
conversation of the women.' Ver. 2. ' Beholding 
your chaste conversation in fear.' Ver. 3. ' Whose 
adorning let it not be in the outward plaiting of 
the hair, or laying on gold round about, or putting 
on apparel.' Ver. 4. ' But the hidden man of the 
heart, in the incorruptibility of a quiet and modest 
spirit, which is rich in the sight of God.' Ver. 5. 
'For in this manner heretofore also holy women, 
hoping in God, adorned themselves, being subject to 
their husbands.' Ver. 6. 'As Sarah obeyed Abra- 
ham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are,' 
(fee. Ver. 7. ' Husbands, in like manner, dwelling 
with them according to knowledge, give honour to 
the woman as to the weaker vessel, as to the joint 
heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers may 
not be hindered.' 

1 Cor. vii. 3. ' Let the husband render the (mar- 
riage) debt to the wife; and in like manner the 



CATHOLIC CIIRISTIAJN INSTRUCTED. 231 

wife to her husband.' Ver. 4. ' The wife hath not 
power of her own body, but the husband; and in 
like manner the husband hath not power of his 
own body but the wife.' Ver. 5. 'Defraud not one 
another, unless perhaps by consent for a time, that 
you may give yourselves to prayer, and return 
again together to the same, lest satan tempt you 
on account of your incontinency.' Ver. 6. 'Yet 
this I speak according to indulgence, not according 
to command.' ' Ver. 7. 'For I would have you all 
to be as myself,' &c. Ver. 10. 'But as to them 
who are joined in wedlock, it is not I but the Lord 
commands that the wife depart not from the hus- 
band.' Ver. 11. 'But if she shall depart that she 
remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: 
and let not the husband put away his wife.' 

Titus ii, 4. ' They may teach the young women 
prudence, that they love their husbands, be tender 
of their children.' Ver. 5. ' Discreet, chaste, sober, 
having care of the house, gentle, submissive to their 
husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.' 

There are also excellent documents for married 
people in the book of Tobias, ch. vi. 16. 'Then the 
angel Raphael said to him, hear me, and I will 
shew thee who they are over whom the devil can 
prevail.' Ver. 17. 'For they who in such manner 
receive matrimony as to shut out God from them- 
selves and from their mind, and to give themselves 
to their lust, as the horse and the mule, which 
have not understanding: over them the devil hath 
power.' Ver. 22. 'Thou shalt take the virgin 
with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for the 
love of children than for lust, that in the seed of 
Abraham thou mayest obtain blessing in children.' 

And chap. iii. 16. 'Thou knowest. Lord! that I 
never coveted a husband, and have kept my soul 



2^^ CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Clean from all concupiscence.' Ver. 16.^1 never 
kept company with them t,hat play, nor with them 
that walk in lightness did I make myself a part- 
ner.' Ver. 17. 'But a husband I consented to 
take, with thy fear, not with my lust.' 

And chap. iii. 8. 'Thou madest Adam of the 
slime of the earth, and gavest him Eve for his 
helpmate.' Ver. 9. 'And now. Lord! thou knowest 
that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, 
but only for the love of posterity, in which thy 
name m.ay be blessed for ever.' 

Q. What are the duties of married people with 
i^gard to the education of their children? 

A, They are obliged to train them up from their 
vfiry infancy in the fear of God, and to give them 
early impressions of piety; to see that they be 
instructed in the Christian Doctrine, and that they 
be kept to their prayers and other religious duties; 
in fine, to give them good example, and to remove 
from them the occasions of sin, especially bad com- 
pany and idleness. 

Q. Does the Catholic Church allow her children 
to marry with those that are not of her communion? 

A. She has often prohibited such marriages, as 
may be seen in the sixteenth canon of the Council of 
Illiberis, the 10th canon of the Council of Laodicea, 
the 14th canon of the Council of Chalcedon, the 67th 
canon of the Council of Agde, &:c. Though some- 
times, and in some places, pastors of the church, for 
weighty reasons, have been forced to dispense with 
this law, and to celebrate such marriages.' 

Q. Why is the church so averse to these kind 
of marriages? 

A, First, because she would not have her chil- 
dren communicate in sacred things, such as matri- 
mony is, with those that are out of her communion. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 233 

Secondly, because such marriages are apt to give 
occasion to dissensions in families, whilst one of 
the parties draw one way, the other another. 
Thirdly, because there is a danger of the Catholic 
party being perverted, or at least of not being 
allowed the free exercise of religion. Fourthly, 
because there is a danger of the children being 
brought up in error, of which we have seen some 
sad instances. Where note, that those bargains are 
by no means to be allowed of, by which the con- 
tracting parties agree to have the boys brought up 
m the religion of the father, and the girls to follow 
ehe mother. God and his church will have no such 
division, nor give up thus their right to any one. 



CHAPTER XX. 

OF THE CHURCHING OF WOMEN AFTER CHILD BEARING. 

Q. What is the meaning of the churching of 
women after child bearing? b it that you look 
Bpon them to be under any uncleanness, as form- 
erly in the old law, or to be any-ways out of the 
rhurch by child bearin<T^ 

A, No, by no means: but what we call the 
churching of women jg nothing else but their com- 
ing to the church to ^ive thanks to God for their 
-■safe delivery, and to receive the blessing of the 
priest upon that occasion. 

Q. What is the form and manner of churching 
of women? 

A. The woman that desires to be churched, 
kneels down at the door or entry of the church, 
holding a lighted candle in her hand; and the 
priest, vested with his surplice and stole, sprinkles 
ber first with holy water, and then says: 

20* 



/ 



234 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

F. Our help is in the name of the Lord. 
R, Who made heaven and earth. 
Anthem. This woman shall receive a blessing 
from the Lord. 

Psalm 23. 

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; 
the compass of the world and all that dwell therein. 

Because he hath founded it upon the seas, and 
prepared it upon the rivers. 

Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord, 
or who shall stand in his holy place? 

The innocent of hands, and clean of heart, that 
hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn to his 
neighbour in guile. 

He shall receive blessing of the Lord, and mercy 
of God and his Saviour. 

This is the generation of them that seek him, of 
them that seek the face of the God of Jacob. 

Lift up your gates ye princes, and be ye lifted 
up O eternal gates, and the King of Glory shall 
enter in. 

Who is the King of Glory? The Lord, strong 
and mighty; the Lord, mighty in battle. 

Lift up your gates ye princes, and be ye lifted 
up O eternal gates and the King of Glory shall 
enter in. 

Who is the King of Glory ? The Lord of power, 
he is the King of Glory. 

Glory be to the Father, &c. 

As it was in the beginning, &c. 

Anthem. The woman shall receive a blessing from 
the Lord, and mercy from God her Saviour; for 
this is the generation of them that seek the Lord. 

After this the priest stretches out to her hand 
the end of his stole, and so introduces her into the 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 235 

church, saying, Come into the temple of God, adore 
the Son of iho blessed Virgin Mary, who has given 
to thee to be fruitful in thy offspring. 

Then she kneels before the altar, giving thanks 
to God for his benefits bestowed on her, whilst the 
priest^ prays as follows: 

Lord! have mercy on us. Christ! have mercy 
on us. Lord! have mercy on us. Our Father, 
&c. V, And lead us not into temptation. A. But 
deliver us from evil. V, Save thy handmaid, O 
Lord! A, Trusting in thee, O my God! F. Send 
her help, O Lord! from thy sanctuary. A. And 
defend her from Sion. F. Let not the enemy 
have any power over her. A, Nor the son of 
iniquity presume to hurt her. F. O Lord! hear 
my prayer. A. And let my cry come to thee. F. 
The Lord be with you. A. And with thy spirit. 

Let us pray. 

Almighty everlasting God! who, by the blessed 
Virgin Mary's happy bringing forth, hast changed 
into joy the pains of the faithful in their child 
bearing; mercifully look down on this thy servant, 
who comes with joy to thy holy temple to return 
thee thanks; and grant that after this life she may, 
by the merits and intercession of the same blessed 
Mary, deserve to be received with her child in- 
to the joys of everlasting happiness. Through 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Then the priest sprinkles her again with holy 
water, in the form of the cross, saying. May the 
peace and blessing of Almighty God, the Father, i|5 
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, come upon thee, 
and remain with thee for ever. Amen. 



236 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

OF THE FASTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURO**- 

SECTION I. 

OF FASTING AND ABSTINENCE IN GENERAL. 

Q. Have you any reason to think that fa^nng 
and abstinence are agreeable to God? 

A. Yes, certainly: John the Baptist's abstinence 
is commended, St. Luke i. 15. and St. Matt. iii. 4. 
and Anna the prophetess is praised, St. Luke ii 
37. for serving God with fasting and prayers 
night and day. The Ninivites by fasting obtain- 
ed mercy, Jonas iii. 5. Daniel joined fasting with 
prayer, Dan. ix. 3. and by fasting was disposed 
for heavenly visions, Dan. x. 3, 7, 12. The royal 
prophet humbled his soul in fasting, Psalm xxxiv. 
(alias XXXV.) Ezra and Nehemiah sought and 
found seasonable aid from God by fasting, Ezr* 
viii. 23. and Nehemiah i. 4. And God by the pro- 
phet Joel, calls upon his people (Joel ii. 12.) 'u 
turn to him with all their hearts in fasting, weep 
ing and mourning.' 

Q. But did our Lord Jesus Christ design th:!t 
his followers should fast? 

A. Yes, he not only gave them an example b} 
fasting forty days, St. Matt. vi. 16, &c. but also ex 
pressly affirmed, that after the bridegroom should 
be taken from them, that is, after his passion, re- 
surrection and ascension, all his children, that is, 
all good christians, should fast, St. Matt. ix. 15. 
St. Mark ii. 20; St. Luke v. 36. Hence we find 
the Christians at Antioch fasting, Acts xiii. 2. and 
Paul and Barnabas ordained with prayer and fast- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 237 

ing, ver. 3. and priests ordained by them in every 
church with prayer and fasting, Acts xiv. 23, and 
the Apostles 'approving themselves as the minis- 
ters of God — in lasting,' 2 Cor. vi. 4, 5, &c. 

Q. Has fasting any particular efficacy against 
the devil? 

A Yes: 'This kind (of devils) can come forth 
by nothing, but by prayer and fasting,' saith our 
Lord, St. Mark ix. 29. 

Q, What are the ends for vi^hich christians are 
to fast, and for which the church prescribes days 
of fasting and abstinence? 

A. First, to chastise ourselves, and to do penance 
for our sins, that so, like the Ninivites, we may ob- 
tain mercy of God. Secondly, to curb and restrain 
our passions and concupiscences, and to bring the 
flesh under subjection to the spirit. Thirdly, to 
be enabled by fasting to raise our souls the easier 
to God, and to offer him purer prayer. 

Q. What are the rules prescribed by the Catho- 
lic church with regard to eating on fasting days? 

A. First, the church prohibits all flesh-meat on 
fasting days, unless in Lent a dispensation to the 
contrary be granted; formerly wine was prohibi- 
ted; but this prohibition, by a contrary custom, has 
been long since laid aside. Secondly, the church 
allows her children but one meal on fasting days; 
besides which, custom has introduced a small colla- 
tion at night. Thirdly, the meal which the church 
allows on fasting days must not betaken till towards 
noon: formerly, for the first twelve hundred years 
of the church, the meal was not to be taken in Lent 
before the evening; and on the other fasting days 
not till three o'clock in the afternoon. These 
rules regard the days of fasting; but as to those 
that are only days of abstinence, such as the Fri- 



238 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

days throughout the year, we are only obliged to 
abstain from flesh on those days, but no ways con- 
fined to one meal. 

Q. But why does the Church prohibit flesh on 
days of fasting and abstinence? 

A. Not that she looks upon any meats as unclean 
by the new law, but she does it that her children 
may better comply with the ends of fasting, viz. 
mortification and penance, by abstaining on those 
days from that kind of food which is most nourish- 
ing and agreeable, 

Q. But is not this condemned by the Apostle, 1 
Tim. iv. 3. 'where he calls it the doctrine of devils 
to command to abstain from meats which God hath 
created to be received with thanksgiving.' 

A, The Apostle speaks of the doctrine of those, 
who, with the Marcionites, Manichseans, and other 
heretics, forbid the use of meat, not as the church 
does, by way of mortification and penance, on days 
of fasting and humiliation, but as a thing absolute- 
ly unclean, and unlawful to be used at any time, 
as coming from an evil principle. All that know 
any thing of church-history, know that it was the 
system of many heretics, who also upon the same 
account, absolutely condemned marriage, as tend- 
ing to the propagation of the flesh. Now they 
that know these things are guilty of the highest 
injustice, pretending that these w^ords of the Apos- 
tle were levelled at the Catholic Church, when 
their own conscience must tell them that they 
were designed for another set of people. The 
Catholic Church is far from condemning the use of 
God's creatures in proper times and seasons; but she 
neither does, nor ever did, think all kind of diet 
proper for days of fasting and penance: and in this 
particular the modern church is so far from going 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 239 

beyond the primitive christians, that on the con- 
trary, all kind of monuments of antiquity make it 
evident, that our forefathers, in the first ages of 
the church, were more severe in their abstinence 
than we now are. 

Q. But does not the Apostle say, 1 Cor. x. 25. 
'Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, ask- 
ing no question for conscience sake?' 

A. He speaks not this with relation to the days 
of fasting, as if any sorts of meat might be eaten 
on fasting days; but he speaks, as it is visible from 
the context, with regard to the meats offered to 
idols; which some weak brethren were so much 
afraid of eating, that upon this account they durst 
not eat the meat sold in the shambles, lest it might 
have been offered to idols. Upon the same prin- 
ciple the Apostle adds, ver. 27. * If any of them 
that believe not, invite you to a feast, and ye be 
disposed to go, whatsoever is set before you eat, 
asking no question for conscience sake,' ver. 28. 
'But if any man say unto you, this is offered in 
sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shew- 
ed it, and for conscience sake,' &c. 

Q. Do you take it then to be a sin to eat meat 
on fasting days, or otherwise to break the church 
fasts without necessity? 

A. Yes, certainly; because it is a sin to disobey 
our lawful superiors, and more particularly to dis- 
obey the church of God. 'If he neglect to hear 
the church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a 
publican,' St. Matt, xviii. 17. 

Q. Does not Christ say, St. Matt. xv. 11. 'That 
which goeth into the mouth doth not defile a man?' 

A, True: it is not any uncleanness in the meat, 
as many heretics have imagined, or any dirt or 
dust which may stick to it by eating, without first 



240 CATHOLIC CHKISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

washing the hands (of which case our Lord if 
speaking in the text you quote) which can defile 
the soul,- for every creature of God is good, and 
whatsoever corporal filth enters in at the Uiouth is 
cast forth into the draught; but that which defiles 
the sou), when a person transgresses the church fast, 
is the disobedience of the heart, in breaking the 
precept of the church, which God has commanded 
us to hear and to obey. And thus an Israelite 
would have been defiled in the time of the old law, 
by eating of blood or swine's flesh ; and thus our 
first parents were defiled by eating the forbidden 
fruit, not by the uncleanness of the food, but by 
the disobedience of the heart to the law of God. 

Q. What are the conditions that ought to ac- 
company a christian faith, to make it such a fast 
as God has chosen? 

A. The great and general fast of a christian is 
to abstain from sin; and God would not accept of 
the fasts of the Jews, Isai. Iviii. because on the 
days of their fasting they were found doing their 
own will and oppressing their neighbours. So 
that the first condition that ought to go along with 
our fasts, is to renounce our sins; the second, is to 
let our fasts be accompanied with alms-deeds and 
prayer, Tob. xii. 8. the third to endeavour to per- 
form them in a penitential spirit. 

Q, What persons are excused from the strict- 
ness of the church fast? 

A, Children under age, sick people, women thai 
are with child, or that give suck; likewise those 
that upon fasting days are obliged to hard labour; 
and, in a word, all such who through weakness, 
infirmity, or other hindrance, cannot fast without 
great prejudice or danger: where note, first, that 
if the cause be not evident, a person must have 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 241 

recourse to his pastor for dispensation. Secondly, 
that in some of the above mentioned cases, a per- 
son may be excused from one part of the fast, and 
not from another; or may be excused from fasting, 
and yet not from abstinence. Thirdly, that such, 
as for some just cause are dispensed with from 
fasting, ought to endeavour, as far as their condi- 
tion and circumstances will allow, to be so much 
the more diligent in their devotions, more liberal 
in their alms, more patient in their sufferings, and 
to make up by the interior spirit of penance what 
is wanting to the outward fast. 



SECTION II. 

OF THE FAST OF LENT. 

Q. When did the church first begin to observe 
the fast of Lent? 

A, We know no beginning of it; for it is a fast 
that has been observed by the church from the 
time of the Apostles, and stands upon the same 
foundation as the observation of the Lord's day, 
that is, upon apostolical tradition. 

Q. Have the ancient fathers often mentioned the 
solemn fast of forty days, which we call Lenl? 

A, Yes: it is mentioned by the holy fathers in 
innumerable places; who also inform us, that they 
had received it by tradition from the Apostles, see 
St. Jerome, epist. 64, ad Marcellum, and St. Leo 
the Great, serm. 43. and 46. And the transgres- 
sors of this solemn fast are severely punished by 
the 68th Canon of the Apostles. 

Q. Have you any thing else to offer to prove 
that the fast of Lent comes from an ordinance of 
the Apostles? 

21 



■-». .-A-'JIlltA 



242 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A, Yes: it is proved by that rule of St. Augus- 
tine, epist. 118. to Januarius, viz. That what is 
found not to have had its institution from any 
Council, but to have been ever observed by the 
universal church, that same must needs have come 
from the the first fathers, the founders of the 
church, that is, from the Apostles. But the fast of 
Lent is not found to have had its institution from 
any Council, but to have been observed in all ages, 
from the very beginning, amongst all christian 
people from east to west: therefore the fast of 
Lent is an apostolical ordinance and tradition. 

Q. For what ends was the fast of Lent in 
stituted.^ 

A, First, that by this yearly fast of* forty days 
we might imitate the fast of our Lord, St. Matt 
iv. 2. Secondly, that by this institution we migh\ 
set side the tithe, or tenth part of the year, to be 
more particularly consecrated to God by prayer 
and fasting; as it was commanded in the law, to 
give God the tithes of all things. Thirdly, that by 
this forty days fast, joined with prayers and alms- 
deeds, we might do penance for the sins of the 
whole year. Fourthly, that we might at this time 
enter into a kind of spiritual exercises, and a 
retreat from the world; to look more narrowly 
into the state of our souls, to repair our decayed 
strength, and to provide effectual remedies against 
our usual failings for the time to come. Fifthly, 
that by this solemn fast we might celebrate in 
a more becoming manner the passion of Christ, 
Kvhich we particularly commemorate in the Lent. 
In fine, that this fast might be a preparation for 
the great solemnity of Easter, and for the Paschal 
communion. 

Q. In what spirit would the church have her 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 243 

children undertake and go through the fast of 
Lent? 

A. In a penitential spirit, that is, with a deep 
sense of repentance for having offended God; an 
earnest desire and resolution of a new lit*e, and 
of mortifying and chastising themselves for their 
sins. These lessons she inculcates every day in 
her office and LituVgy; witness the hymns pre- 
scribed for this holy time, the responsories, the 
collects, tracts, &c. I shall give you a specimen 
of the spirit of the church in this regard, by set- 
ting down some passages of the scripture, which 
she orders to be read in the canonical hours of 
prayers every day during this time. 

1. At Lauds, Isaiah Iviii. *Cry out, cease not, 
raise thy voice like a trumpet, and declare to my 
people their wickedness, and to the house of Jacob 
their sins.' 

2. At Prime, or the first hour, Isaiah Iv. *Seek 
the Lord whilst he may be found, call upon him 
whilst he is near.' 

3. At Terce, or the third hour, Joel ii. 'Be con- 
verted to me with your whole heart, in fasting, 
and weeping, and mourning; and rend your hearts, 
and not your garments, saith the Lord Almighty.' 

4. At Sext, or the sixth hour, Isaiah, Iv. 'Let 
the wicked man forsake his ways, and the unjust 
man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, 
and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, 
for his mercy is great.' 

6. At None, or the ninth hour, Isaiah liii. 'Break 
thy bread to the hungry, and bring in the needy 
and the harbourless into thy house: when thou 
shalt see the naked clothe him, and despise not thy 
own flesh.' 

6. At Vespers, or Evening-song, Joel ii. 'Be- 



244 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

tween the porch and the altar, the priests, the 
ministers of the Lord shall mourn, and they shall 
say. Spare, O Lord! spare thy people; and let not 
thy inheritance fall into reproach, for the nations 
to domineer over them.' 

To the same effect she often repeats in her of- 
tce the following exhortation : ' Let us repent and 
mend the sins which we have ignorantly commit- 
ted, lest being suddenly overtaken by the day of 
our death, we seek for time of penance, and be not 
able to find it.' 

And again : ' Behold now is an acceptable time, 
behold now are the days of salvation; let us re- * 
commend ourselves in much patience,' &c. 

Q. Why do you call the first day of Lent, Ash- 
Wednesday? 

A, From the ceremony of blessing ashes upon 
that day, and putting them on the foreheads ot 
the faithful, to remind them that they must very 
quickly return to dust; and therefore must not 
neglect to lay hold of this present time of mercy, 
and like the Ninivites and other ancient penitents, 
do penance for their sins in sackcloth and ashes. 
The prayers which are said by the church, for the 
blessing of the ashes, are directed for the obtaining 
of God the spirit of compunction, and the remission 
of sins for all those who receive those ashes; and 
the priest, in making the sign of the cross, with 
the ashes on the forehead of each one of the faith- 
ful, says these words: ^Remember, man, that thou 
art dust, and into dust thou shalt return.' 

Q. Was it ever the custom of the Catholic 
Church to meet on that day to curse sinners? 

A. No; but to pray to God to obtain mercy for 
sinners. 

Q. What benefit is it to the faithful to have 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 245 

regular times of fasting appointed by the church, 
rather than to be left to their own discretion to 
fast when they please? 

A. First, it is to be feared, that many would not" 
fast at all, were they not called upon by these re- 
gular fasts of the church. Secondly, it is not to be 
doubted, but that sinners may more easily and read- 
ily find mercy, when they join thus all in a body 
with the w^hole church of God in suing for mercy. 

Q. But is this mercy to be expected, if sinners 
only mortify themselves in point of eating, and in 
all other things indulge themselves in their accus- 
tomed liberties? 

-4. It is certain, that the true spirit of penance, 
which is the spirit of Lent, requires that they 
should be mortified, not only in their eating, but 
also by retrenching all superfluities in other things, 
as in drinking, sleeping, idle visits, and unnecessary 
divertisements, according to that of the Church- 
Hymn for Lent. 

TJtamur ergo parciiis 
Verbis, cibis et potibusj 
Somno, jocis, el arctius 
Perstemus in custodia. 

Q. What do you think of preparing for Lent by 
a carnival of debauchery and excess? 

A. I think it is a relic of heathenism, infinitely 
opposite to the spirit of the church. The very 
name of Shrove-tide, in the language of our fore- 
fathers, signifies the season or time of confession; 
because our ancestors were accustomed, according 
to the true spirit of the church, to go to confession 
at that time, that so they might enter on the so- 
lemn fast of Lent, in a manner suitable to this 
penitential fast. 

21* 



246 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. Why is the Evening-Office, or Vespers, said 
before dinner, on all days in Lent excepting Sun- 
days? 

A, It is a relic of the ancient custom of fasting 
in Lent till the evening. 

Q. Why is the Alleluia laid aside during the 
time of Lent? 

A, Because it is a canticle of joy, and therefore is 
omitted in this time of penance: but instead of it, the 
church, at the beginning of all the canonical hours 
of her daily Office, repeats these words; 'Praise be 
to thee, O Lord! King of everlasting Glory.' 

Q. Why is the fifth Sunday in Lent called Pas- 
sion Sunday? 

A. Because, from that day till Easter, the church, 
in a particular manner, commemorates the passion 
of Christ. 

Q. Why are the crucifixes and altar-pieces cov- 
ered during this time, in which we celebrate 
Christ*'s passion? 

A. Because the church is then in mourning for 
her Spouse, who in his passion was truly a hidden 
God, by concealing his divinity, arid becoming for 
us ' as a worm, and no man, the reproach of men, 
and the out-cast of the people,' Psalm xxi. 



SECTION III. 

OF OTHER DAYS OF FASTING AND ABSTINENCE IN THE 
CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

Q. Does the church observe any other days of 
fasting and abstinence besides the forty days of 
Lent? 

A. Yes; she fasts upon the Wednesdays, Fri- 
days, and Saturdays, in the four Ember- weeks; 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 247 

and upon the vigils or eves of some of her fes- 
tivals; as also upon Fridays in Advent; and she 
abstains from flesh on the Fridays throughout the 
year. 

Q. Which do you call the four Ember-weeks? 

A. The four Ember- weeks, are the weeks in 
which the church gives Holy Orders, at the four 
seasons of the year. viz. the first week in Lent, 
Whitsun-week, the third week in September, and 
the third week in Advent; and they are called 
Ember- weeks, from the custom of our forefathers, 
of fasting at that time in sackcloth and ashes, or 
from eating nothing but cakes baked under the 
embers, and from thence called Ember bread. 

Q. Why has the church appointed these fasts of 
the Ember-days, at the four seasons of the year? 

A. First, that no part of the year might pass 
without offering to God the tribute of a penitental 
fast. Secondly, that we might beg his blessing on 
the fruits of the earth, and give him thanks for 
those which we have already received. Thirdly, 
that all the faithful might join at these times in 
prayer and fasting to obtain of God worthy pas- 
tors; these being the times of their ordination. 
Thus the primitive christians fasted at the times 
of the ordination of their ministers, Acts xiii. 2 
and 3, and chap. xiv. 22. 

Q. Why does the church fast upon the eve or 
vigils of some Holidays? 

A, To prepare her children by mortification and 
penance, for the worthily celebrating those days. 

Q. Why do we abstain upon Fridays? 

A, Because our Lord suffered for us upon a 
Friday. From this rule of abstaining upon Fri- 
days, we except if Christmas-day occur upon a Fri- 
day, we do not abstain on that day. 



248 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. What is the meaning of the three Rogation- 
days? 

A. The Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, be- 
fore Ascension-day, and called the three Rogation- 
days, or days of solemn supplication and prayer. 
On these days we keep abstinence, and in every 
parish we go in procession, singing the Litanies, 
to beg God's blessing upon the fruits of the earth, 
and to be preserved from pestilence, famine, &c. 
Upon the same account we keep abstinence on the 
day of St. Mark, April 25, with the like solemn 
supplications and Litanies. 

Q. What is the meaning of keeping abstinence 
upon Saturday? 

A. Because Saturday was the day that our Lord 
lay dead in the monument, and a day of mourning 
to his disciples. This abstinence is also a proper 
preparation for the solemnity of the Lord's day. 

JV. B, That in the East, instead of the Saturday, they 
fast upon the Wednesday, as being the day on which the 
Jews lield their council against Christ, and on which he 
was sold by Judas. — The Rogation-days, St. Mark's day, 
and Saturdays, unless the Saturdays in Lent and Advent, 
are not days of abstinence in the U. States. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

OF THE CHURCH OFFICE, OR THE CANONICAL H0U2 : 
OF PRAYER IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

Q. What do you mean by the Church-Office? 

A. It is a form of prayer, consisting of Psalms 
Lessons, Hymns, &c. used by all the clergy 
and by the religious of both sexes in the Catholit! 
Church. This Office is divided into seven parli^| 
commonly called the Seven Canonical Hours, ac 
cording to the different stage or stations of Christ's 
passion, viz. the Matins, or Midnight-Office, to 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 249 

which are annexed the Lauds, or Morning-Praises 
of God; the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours of 
prayer, commonly called prime, terce, sext, and* 
none; the Vespers, or Evening-song; and the Com- 
plin. All these are duly performed by the clergy 
and religious every day, according to that of the 
Royal Prophet, Psalm cxviii. ' Seven times in the 
day I gave praise to thee.' 

Q. Have you any warrant in scripture for these 
different hours of prayer? 

A, Yes: as to the Midnight-Office, King David 
tells us, Psalm cxxviii. that 'he arose at midnight 
to confess to God,' and we find that St. Paul and 
Silas, even in prison, ' pra3fed at midnight and 
sung praises to God,' Acts xvi. 25. 

As for the Lauds, or praises of God at break 
of day, they are also recommended to us by the 
example of the Psalmist, Psalm Ixii. ^O God! my 
God! to thee do I watch from the morning light;' 
and by the admonition of the Wise-man, Wisd. xvL 
28. 'That we ought to get up before the sun to 
bless God, and at the rising of light to adore him.' 

Of Prime, or the first hour of prayer at sun- 
rising, we may understand that of the Royal Pro- 
phet, Psalm v. 'In the morning thou shalt hear 
my voice,' &c. At Terce, or the third hour of 
prayer, it was, that the Apostles received the Holy 
Ghost, Acts ii. 15. At Sext, or the sixth hour, 
St. Peter was praying when he was called by a 
vision to open the church to the Gentiles, Acts x. 9. 
And we read also of St. Peter, with St. John, 
going up to the Temple to the 'ninth hour of 
prayer,' Acts iii. 1. For Vespers, or even-song, 
and Complin, which are evening-prayer, we have 
the example of the Royal prophet, Psalm liv. ' In 
the even ng, and the morning, and at noon-day, 



250 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

I will speak and declare, and he will hear my 
voice,' Hence we find, that the night Office, the 
morning praises, the third, sixth, and ninth hours 
of prayer, and the even-song, were among the pri- 
mitive Christians regularly observed, not only by 
the clergy, but also by the rest of the faithful; to 
which the religious afterwards added the Prime 
and Complin. 

Q. Can you give me a short scheme of tho 
canonical hours of prayer, according to the Roman 
Breviary? 

A. Matins begin with the Lord's Prayer, the 
Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed: then, after 
a Versicle or two, to call for God's assistance, 
and the Gloria Patri, &c. follows the 94th Psalm, 
(alias 95,) by which we invite one another to 
praise and adore God. Then comes a hymn, 
which is followed by the Psalms, with their proper 
anthems, and the lessons of the day, with their 
responsories. In the Matins for Sunday, we read 
eighteen psalms, and nine lessons: on festivals, and 
saints' days, we read nine psalms and nine lessons, 
divided into three Nocturns: on Ferial, or common 
days, we read twelve psalms and three lessons. 
The psalms are so distributed, that in the week 
we go through the whole Psalter: the lessons are 
partly taken out of the scriptures of the Old and 
New Testament, partly out of the acts of the 
saints, and the writings and homilies of the holy 
fathers. Upon fasting days, and during the whole 
Paschal time, and upon all Sundays from Easter to 
Advent, and from Christmas till Septuagesima, we 
close the Matins with the Te Deum. 

In the Lauds we recite seven psalms, and one 
of the scripture canticles, with their respective 
anthems, and a hymn, then the canticle Ben©- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRFCTED. 251 

dictus, with the prayer or prayers of the day: and 
in the end an anthem and prayer of the blessed 
Virgin Mary. 

The Prime begins with the Pater, Ave, and 
Creed, Deus in adjutorium, dec. Gloria Patri, dz;c. 
After which there follow a morning hymn, the 
63d Psalm, (alias 54,) with a part of the 118th, 
(alias 119) to which on Sundays, is prefixed the 
117th Psalm, and subjoined the Athanasian Creed. 
Then follow an anthem, a capitulum, or short les- 
son, with its responsory, and diverse prayers to 
beg God^s grace for the following day. 

Terce, Sext and None, begin with Pater, Ave, 
&c. and consist each of them of a proper hymn, 
and six divisions of the 118th Psalm: which ex- 
cellent psalm the church would have her clergy 
daily recite, because every verse of it contains the 
praises of God''s holy law and commandments, or 
excites the soul to the love and esteem thereof, 
or in fine, prays for the grace to fulfil the same. 
After the psalm follows an anthem; then a short 
lesson, responsory and prayer: and each hour is 
concluded with the Pater Noster. 

Vespers, or even-song, are begun also with Pater, 
Ave, &;c. and consist of five psalms, with their an- 
thems, a short chapter or lesson, a hymn, and the 
Magnificat, or canticle of the blessed Virgin Mary, 
with its proper anthem, and a collect or prayer, to 
which are usually joined three or four commemo- 
rations, consisting of anthems, verses and prayers. 

Complin, consists of the Lord's Prayer, the Con- 
iiteor, dec. four psalms, an anthem, hymn, lesson, 
^responsory, the canticle Nunc dimittis, with its 
anthem, and some short prayers which are closed 
with an anthem and prayer of the blessed Virgin, 
and the Pater, Ave and Creed. 



252 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

OF THE FESTIVALS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH : WHERE 
ALSO OF THE HOLY WEEK, AND THE CEREm)NIE3 
THEREOF. 

Q. What are the days which the church com- 
mands to be kept holy? 

A, First, the Sundays, or the Lord's day, which 
we observe by apostolical tradition, instead of the 
sabbath. Secondly, the feasts of our Lord's Nativ- 
ity, or Christmas-day; his Circumcision, or New- 
Year's day; the Epiphany, or Twelfth-day; Easter- 
day, or the day of our Lord's Resurrection; the 
day of our Lord's Ascension; Whit-Sunday, or the 
day of the coming o^ the Holy Ghost; Trinity- 
Sunday; Corpus Christi, or the feast of the blessed 
Sacrament. Thirdly, we keep the days of the An- 
nunciation, and Assumption of the blessed Virgin 
Mary. Fourthly, we observe the feast of All-Saints'. 

Q. What warrant have you for keeping the 
Sunday, preferable to the ancient Sabbath, which 
was the Saturday? 

A, We have for it the authority of the Catholic 
Church and apostolical tradition. 

Q. Does the scripture any where command the 
Sunday to be kept for the Sabbath? 

A, The scripture commands us to hear the 
church, St. Matt, xviii. 17. St. Luke x. 16. and to 
hold fast the traditions of the Apostles, 2 Thess ii. 
16. but the scripture does not in particular men- 
tion this change of the Sabbath. St. John speaks of 
the Lord's day, Rev. i. 10. but he does not tell U3 
what day of the week this was, much less does he 
tell us that this day was to take place of the Sab- 
bath ordained in the commandments: St. Luke also 



^ 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 253 

epeaks of the disciples meeting together to break 
bread on the first day of the week, Acts xx. 7. 
And St. Paul, 1 Cor. xvi. 2. orders that on the first 
day of the week the Corinthians should lay by ia 
store what they designed to bestow in charity on 
the faithful in Judea: but neither one nor the other 
tells us, that this first day of the week was to be 
henceforward the day of worship, and the chris- 
tian Sabbath: so that truly, the best authority we 
have for this is the testimony and ordinance of the 
church. And therefore those who pretend to be 
80 religious observers of the Sunday, whilst they 
take no notice of other festivals ordained by the 
same church-authority shew, that they act by hu- 
mour, and not by reason and religion; since Sun- 
days and Holidays all stand upon the same founda- 
tion, viz. the ordinance of the church. 

Q. But ought it not to be enough to keep one 
day in the week, according as it was prescribed in 
the commandments, without enjoining any other 
festivals or holidays; especially since it is express 
ly said in the commandment, 'Six days shalt thou 
labour and do all thy work,^ Exod. xx. 9? 

A, God did not, in the Old Testament, only ap- 
point the weekly Sabbath, which was the Saturday, 
but moreover ordained several other festivals, com- 
manding them to be kept holy, and forbidding all 
servile work on them; as the feast of the Pasch 
or Passover; the feast of Pentecost; the feast of the 
sound of Trumpets, on the first day of the tenth 
month; the feast of Atonement, on the tenth day 
of the same month, the feast of Tabernacles, on 
the fifteenth day of the same month, &c. See the 
23d chapter of Leviticus. So that when it is said 
in the law, six days shalt thou labour,' &c. this 
must needs be understood, in case no holiday came 

22 



254 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

in the week; otherwise the law would contradict 
itself. 

Q. But does not St. Paul reprehend the Gala- 
tians, Gal. iv. 10, 11. for observing days, and 
months, and times, and years? 

A. This is to be understood either of the super- 
stitious observation of lucky or unlucky days, &;c. 
or, as it is far more probable from the whole con- 
text, of the observation of the Jewish festivals; 
which, with the old law, were now abolished, but 
were taken up by the Galatians, together with cir- 
cumcision, upon the recommendation of certain 
false teachers: but far was it from the design of 
the Apostle to reprehend their observation of chris- 
tian solemnities, either of the Lord's day, or of 
other festivals observed by apostolical tradition, or 
recommended by the authority of the church of 
Christ. For these come to us recommended by 
Christ himself, who says to the pastors of his 
church, 'he that heareth you, heareth me; and he 
that despiseth you, despiseth me,' St. Luke. x. 16. 

Q. What was the reason why the weekly Sab- 
bath was changed from the Saturday to the Sun- 
day? 

A. Because our Lord fully accomplished the 
work of our redemption by rising from the dead 
on a Sunday, and by sending down the Holy Ghost 
on a Sunday: as therefore the work of our redemp- 
tion was a greater work than that of our creation, 
so the primitive church thought the day, in which 
this work was completely finished, was more wor- 
thy her religious observation, than that in which 
God rested from the creation, and should be pro 
perly called the Lord's day. 

Q. But has the church a power to make any 
alterations in the commandments of God? 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 255 

A, The commandments of God, as far as they 
contain his eternal law, are unalterable and indis- 
pensable; but as to whatever was only ceremonial 
they cease to oblige, since the Mosaic law was 
abrogated by Christ's death. Hence, as far as the 
commandment obliges us to set aside some part of 
our time for the worship and service of our Creator, 
it is an unalterable and unchangeable precept of 
the eternal law in which the church cannot dis- 
pense: but for as much as it prescribes the seventh 
day in particular for this purpose, it is no more 
than a ceremonial precept of the old law, which 
obligeth not christians. And therefore, instead of 
the seventh day, and other festivals appointed by 
the old law, the church has prescribed the Sundays 
and holidays to be set apart for God's worship; 
and these we are now obliged to keep in conse- 
quence of God's commandment, instead of the an- 
cient sabbath. 

Q. What was the reason of the institution of 
other festivals, besides the Lord's day? 

A. That we might celebrate the memory of the 
chief mysteries of our redemption; that we might 
give God thanks for his mercies, and glorify him 
in his saints. 

Q. In what manner ought a christian to spend 
the Sundays and holidays? 

A, In religious duties; such as assisting at the 
great sacrifice of the church, and other public 
prayers, reading good books, and hearing of the 
word of God, &c. 

Q. Why does the church prohibit all servile 
works upon Sundays or holidays? 

A, That the faithful may have nothing to take 
them off from attending to God's service, and 
the sanctification of their souls upon these days. 



256 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

And certainly a christian that has any religious 
thoughts, can never think much of devoting now 
and then a day, to that great business, for which 
alone he came into this world. 

Q. What is the meaning of the institution of 
Christmas? 

A, To celebrate the birth of Christ: to give God 
thanks for sending his Son into the world for our 
redemption; and that we may, upon this occasion, 
endeavour to study and to learn those great lessons 
of poverty of spirit, of humility, and of self-denial, 
which the Son of God teaches us from the crib of 
Bethlehem. 

Q. What is the reason that on Christmas-day 
Mass is said at midnight? 

A, Because Christ was born at midnight. 

Q. Why are three Masses. said by every priest 
upon Christmas-day? 

A. This ancient observance may be understood 
to denote three different births of Christ; his eter- 
nal birth from his Father, his temporal birth from 
his mother, and his spiritual birth in the hearts of 
good christians. 

Q. Are all the faithful obliged to hear three 
Masses on Christmas-day? 

A, No, they are not: though it would be very 
commendable so to do. 

Q. What is the meaning of the time of Advent 
before Christmas? 

A, It is a time appointed by the church for de 
votion and penance, and is called Advent or com 
ing, because in it we prepare ourselves for tht 
worthy celebrating the mercies of our Lord's first 
coming, that so we may escape the rigour of his 
justice at his second coming. 

Q. What is the meaning of New Year's day? 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 257 

A, It is the octave of Christmas, and the day of 
our Lord's circumcision, when he first began to 
shed his innocent blood for us: and on this day we 
ought to study how we may imitate him by a spiri- 
tual circumcision of our hearts. 

Q. What is the meaning of the Epiphany, or 
Twelfth-day? 

A, It is a day kept in memory of the coming of 
the wise men of the East, to adore our Saviour in 
his infancy: and it is called Epiphany, or Manifes- 
tation, because our Lord then begun to manifest 
himself to the Gentiles. The devotion of this day 
is to give God thanks for our vocation to the true 
faith, and like the wise men to make our offerings 
of gold, frankincense and myrrh, that is, of char- 
ity, prayer and mortification to our new born 
Saviour. On this day the church also celebrates 
the memory of the baptism of Christ, and of his 
first miracle of changing water into wine in Cana 
of Gallilee. 

Q. What is the meaning of Candlemas-day? 

A. It is the day of the Purification of the blessed 
Virgin after child bearing, and of the presentation 
of our Lord in the temple; when the just man Si- 
meon, who had a promise from the Holy Ghost of: 
seeing the Saviour of the world before his death, 
received him into his arms, and proclaimed him to 
be the light of the Gentiles. Upon this account, 
the church upon this day makes a solemn proces- 
sion with lighted candles, which are blessed by the 
priest before Mass, and carried in the hands of the 
faithful, as an emblem of Christy who is the true. 
light of the world. And from this ceremony this 
day is called Candlemas, or the Mass of candles. 

Q. What is the meaning of the Annunciation, or , 
Lady-day, the 25th of March? 

22* 



258 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

A, It is the day of our Lord's Incarnation, when 
he was first conceived by the Holy Ghost in the 
womb of the blessed Virgin Mary: and it is called 
the Annunciation, from the message brought from 
heaven on this day to the Virgin by the angel 
Gabriel. 

Q. What is the meaning of the Holy Week be- 
fore Easter? 

A. It is a week of more than ordinary devotion 
in honour of the passion of Christ. 

Q. What is the meaning of Palm-sunday ? 

A, It is the day in which our Lord being about 
to suffer for us, entered into Jerusalem, sitting up- 
on an ass, as had been foretold by the prophet 
Zachariah, chap. ix. ver. 9. and was received with 
Hosannas of joy, accompanied by a great multi- 
tude bearing branches of palms in their hands. In 
memory of which we go in procession round the 
church on this day, bearing also branches of palms 
in our hands, to celebrate the triumphs of our vic- 
torious king. 

Q. What is the meaning of the Tenebrae Office 
in holy week? 

^. The Matins of Christ's passion, which form- 
erly used to be said in the night, and are now 
said in the evening, on Wednesday, Thursday, and 
Friday in holy week, are called the Tenebrae Of- 
fice, from the Latin word, which signifies dark- 
ness; because towards the latter end of the Office, 
all the lights are extinguished in memory of the 
darkness which covered all the earth, whilst Christ 
was hanging upon the cross: and at the end of the 
Office, a noise is made to represent the earth-quake 
and splitting of the rocks, which happened at the 
time of our Lord's death. 

Q. What is the reason of Maundy-Thursday? 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 259 

A. '*< is the day on which Christ first instituted 
the ^lfc.5sed sacrament; and began his passion by 
his bitter agony and bloody sweat. From the 
Gloria in excelsis of the Mass of this day, till the 
Mass 01 Easter Evo, our bells are silent throughout 
the Catholic Church, because we are now mourn- 
ing for the passion of Christ^ Our altars are also 
uncovered and stript of all their ornaments, be- 
cause Christ our true altar hung naked upon the 
cross. On this day also prelates and superiors 
wash in the church the feet of their subjects, after 
the example of our Lord, St. John xiii. 

Q. What is the meaning of visiting the sepul- 
chres upon Maundy-Thursday? 

A, The place where the blessed sacrament is 
reserved in the church, in order for the Office of 
Good Friday, (on which day there is no consecra- 
tion) is by the people called the sepulchre, as re- 
presenting by anticipation the burial of Christ. 
And where there are many churches, the faithful 
make their stations to visit our Lord in these 
sepulchres, and meditate on the difierent stages of 
his passion. 

Q. What is the meaning of Good Friday? 

A. \i is the day on which Christ died for us up- 
on the cross. The devotion proper for this day, 
and for the whole time in which we celebrate 
Christ's passion, is to meditate upon the sufferings 
of our Redeemer, to study the excellent lessons 
of virtue, which he teaches us by his example in 
the whole course of his passion; especially his hu- 
mility, meekness, patience, obedience, resignation, 
dz;c. and above all, to learn his hatred of sin and 
his love for us; that we may also learn to hate sin, 
which nailed him to the cross; and to love him 
that has loved us even unto death. 



260 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. What is the meaning of kneeling to the cross 
and kissing it on Good-Friday? 

A, It is to express by this reverence outwardly 
exhibited to the cross, our veneration and love for 
bim, who upon this day died for us on the cross. 

Q, What is the meaning of Holy Saturday? 

A. It is Easter Bf e, and therefore in the Ma^s 
of this day the church resumes the Alleluias of joy, 
which she had intermitted during the peniten- 
tial time of Septuagesima and Lent. On this day 
is blessed the Paschal candle, as an emblem of 
Christ, and his light and glory, which burns dur- 
ing the Mass from Easter until Ascension, that is, 
during the whole time that Christ remained upon 
earth after his resurrection. This day and Whit- 
sun-eve were anciently the days deputed by the 
church for solemn baptism,-and therefore on this 
day the fonts are solemnly blessed. 

Q. What is the meaning of Easter? 

A, It is the chief feast of the whole year, as 
being the solemnity of our Lord's resurrection. 
The devotion of this time is to rejoice in Christ's 
victory over death and hell; and to labour to imi- 
tate his resurrection, by arising from the death of 
sin to the life of grace. 

Q. What is the meaning of Ascension-day? 

A. It is the yearly memory of Christ's ascend- 
ing into heaven, forty days after his rising again 
from the dead; and therefore it is a festival of joy, 
as well by reason of the triumphs of our Saviour 
on this day, and the exaltation of our human na- 
ture, by him now exalted above the angels; as 
likewise, because our Saviour has taken possession 
of that kingdom in our name, and is preparing a 
place for us; and in the mean time he there dis- 
charges the Office of our High Priest and our Ad- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 261 

vocate, by constantly representing his death and 
passion to his Father in our behalf. It is also a 
part of the devotion of this day, to labour to dis- 
engage our hearts from this earth and earthly 
things, to remember that we are but strangers 
and pilgrims here, and to aspire after our heav- 
enly country, where Christ our treasure is gone 
before us, in order to draw our hearts thither 
after him. 

Q. What is the most proj er devotion for the 
time between Ascension and Whitsunday? 

A. To prepare ourselves for the Holy Ghost, as 
the Apostles did by retirement and prayer, and to 
purify our souls from sin, especially from all ran- 
cour and impurity. 

Q. What is the meaning of the solemnity of 
Whitsunday or Pentecost? 

A. It was a festival observed in the old law, in 
memory of the law having been given on that day 
in thunder and lightning; and it is observed by us 
now in memory of the new law, having been pro- 
mulgated on this day by the Holy Ghost's descent 
upon the Apostles in the shape of tongues of fire. 
The proper devotion of this time is to invite the 
Holy Ghost into our souls by fervent prayer, and 
to give ourselves to his divine influences. 

Q. What is the meaning of Trinity-Sunday? 

A. The first Sunday after Pentecost is called 
Trinity-Simday, because on that day we particu- 
larly commemorate that great mystery of Three 
Persons in one God, and glorify the blessed Trin- 
ity for the whole work of our redemption, which 
we have celebrated in the foregoing festivals. 

Q. What is the meaning of the solemnity of 
Corpus Christi? 

A. It is a festival observed by the church, to 



262 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

give God thanks for his goodness and mercy in 
the institution of the blessed Sacrament; and to 
this end are ordained the processions and benedic- 
tions of this octave. 

Q. What is the meaning of the feast of the In- 
vention, or, finding of the cross, May the 3d? 

A. It is a day of devotion in memory of the 
miraculous finding of the cross of Christ, by the 
empress Helen, mo her to Constantino the Great; 
and the chief devotion of the church upon this day, 
as well as upon that of the Exaltation of the cross, 
Sept. 14, is to celebrate the victorious death and 
passion of our Redeemer. 

Q. What are the days observed by the church 
in honour of our Lady the blessed Virgin Mary? 

A. Besides her Purification and the Annuncia- 
tion, of which we have already spoken, we observe 
the day of her Conception, Dec. 8, the day of her 
birth or Nativity, Sept. 8. and the day of her 
happy passage to eternity, Aug. 15, which we call 
her Assumption; it being a pious traditon that she 
was taken up to heaven both in body and soul, 
though not till after she had paid the common debt 
by death. We also keep the day of her presenta- 
tion or consecration to God in the temple, Nov. 
21, and of her visitation, July 2, but only the 
Annunciation and Assumption are now holidays 
of obligation. 

Q. VVhat is the meaning of keeping the festivals 
of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of other saints? 

A, First, to glorify God in his saints, and to 
give him thanks for the graces and glory bestowed 
upon them. Secondly, to communicate with these 
citizens of heaven, and to procure their prayers 
for us. Thirdly, to encourage ourselves to imitato 
their examples. 



» 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 263 

Q. Does not the church also observe some days 
of devotion in honour of the Angels? 

A, We observe Michaelmas day in honour of 
St. Michael the Archangel, and of all the heavenly 
legions. We also commemorate an illustrious ap- 
parition of St. Michael, May 8, and we keep the 
day of our Angels^ guardians, October 2, to give 
God thanks «for giving his Angels a charge over 
us; though these are not days of obligation. 

Q. How do you prove that we have Angels for 
our guardians? 

A. From St. Matt, xviii. 10. 'Take heed that 
ye despise not one of these little onesj for I say 
unto you, that in heaven their angels do always 
behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.' 
Heb. i. 14. ' Are they not all ministering spirits, 
sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs 
of their salvation?' 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

OF THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 

Q. What are the doctrine and practice of the 
Catholic Church, with regard to the invocation of 
angels and saints? 

A. We hold it to be pious and profitable to 
apply ourselves to them, in the way of desiring 
them to pray to God for us; but not so as to 
address ourselves to them, as if they were the 
authors or dispensers of pardon, grace, or salva- 
tion; or as if they had any power to help us inde- 
pendently of God's good-will and pleasure. 

Q. But in some of the addresses made to the 
saints or angels, I find petitions for mercy, aid or 
defence; what say you to that? 



t 



264 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTKUCTEI). 

A, The meaning of those addresses, as far as 
they are authorized by the church, is no other 
than to beg mercy of the saints in this sense, that 
they would pity and compassionate our misery, 
and would pray for us. In like manner, when we 
beg their aid and defence, we mean to beg the aid 
and defence of their prayers; and that the angels, 
to whom God has given charge over us, would 
assist us and defend us against the angels of dark- 
ness. And this is no more than what the Protes- 
tant Church asks in the collect for Michaelmas- 
day, praying, that as the holy angels always serve 
God in heaven, so by his appointment they may 
succour and defend us upon earth. 

Q. Have you any reason to believe that it is 
pious and profitable to beg the prayers of the 
saints and angels? 

A, We have the same reason to desire the 
saints and angels to pray for us, and to believe it 
profitable so to do, as we have to desire the pray- 
ers of God's servants here upon earth; or as St. 
Paul had to desire so often the prayers of the faith- 
ful, to whom he v/rote his epistles. See Rom. xv. 
30; Ephes. vi. 18, 19; 1 Thess. v. 25: Heb. xiii. 18. 
For if it be pious and profitable, to desire the pray- 
ers of sinners here upon earth (for all men here 
upon earth must acknovv^ledge themselves sinners) 
how can it be otherwise than pious and profitable 
to desire the prayers of saints and angels in heav- 
en? Is it that the saints and angels in heaven 
have less charity for us than the faithful upon 
earth? This cannot be, since charity never fail- 
eth, 1 Cor. xiii. 8. and instead of being diminish- 
ed is increased in heaven. Or is it that the saints 
and angels of heaven have less interest with God 
than the faithful upon earth? Neither can this be 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 265 

said, for as they are far more holy and pure, and 
more closely united to his divine Majesty, than the 
faithful upon earth, so must their interest in heav- 
en be proportionably greater. Or is it, in fine, 
that the saints and angels have no knowledge of 
what passes upon earth, and therefore are not to 
^be addressed to for their prayers? Neither is this 
true, since our Lord assures, Mhat there is joy in 
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
that repenteth,' St. Luke xv. 10. Which could 
not be, if the citizens of heaven knew nothing of 
what passes here upon earth. 

Q. Have you any instances in scripture of the 
angels or saints praying for us, or offering up our 
prayers to God? 

A, Yes: Zachar. i. 12. 'The angel of the Lord 
answered and said, O Lord of hosts! how long wilt 
thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the 
cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indig- 
nation these threescore and ten years.' Rev. v. 8. 
*The four and twenty elders fell down before the 
Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden 
vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the 
saints.' Rev. viii. 3, 4. 'And another angel came 
and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and 
there was given unto him much incense, that he 
should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon 
the golden altar which was before the throne. 
And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers 
of the saints, ascended up before God out of the 
angel's hands.' 

Q. Have you any instances in scriptures of ask- 
ing the blessing or prayers of angels or saints? 

A, Gen. xlviii. 15, 16. 'God before w4iom my 
fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God 
which fed me all my life long until this day, th© 

23 



^6 CATHOLIC CHKISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless these 
boys,' — Rev. i. 4. ' Grace be unto you, and peace 
from him who is, and who was, and who is to 
come, and from the seven spirits which are before 
his throne.' But if there had been no instances in 
scripture, both reason and religion must inform us, 
that there cannot possibly be any harm in desiring 
the prayers of God's servants, whether they be in 
heaven or upon earth. 

Q. At least there is no command in scripture 
for desiring the prayers of the angels or saints; 
what say you to this? 

A. The scripture did not command St. Paul to 
desire the prayers of the Romans, nor does it com- 
mand a child to ask his father's blessing, nor the 
faithful to kneel at their prayers, or pull off their 
hats when they go to church,. yet these things are 
no less commendable, as being agreeable to the 
principles of piety and religion, and so it is with 
regard to the invocation of the saints and angels. 
In the mean time, we are sure that there is no law 
nor command in scripture against any of these 
things, and consequently they are guilty of a cry- 
ing injustice, who accuse us of a crime for. begging 
the prayers of the saints, for 'where there is no 
law, there is no transgression,' Rom. iv. 15. 

Q. Does not God say, Isaiah xlii. 8. 'I will not 
give my glory to another?' 

A, Yes: but that makes nothing against desiring 
the saints to pray to God for us; for this is no 
more robbing God of his honour, than when we 
desire the prayers of the faithful here below. 

Q. But does it not argue a want of confidence in 
God's mercy, to have recourse to the prayers of 
the saints? 

A. No, by no means; no more than it argues a 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 267 

want of confidence in God's mercy, to have re- 
course to the prayers of our brethren upon earth. 
The truth is, though God be infinitely merciful, 
and ready to hear our prayers, yet it is our duty 
and his will, that we should neglect no means by 
which we may be forwarded in our progress to a 
happy eternity: and therefore it is agreeable to 
his divine Majesty, that we should both pray our- 
selves without ceasing, and that we should also 
procure the prayers of our brethren, whether in 
hjeaven or on earth, that he may have the honour, 
and we the profit of so many more prayers. 

Q. Have you any proof or instances in scrip- 
ture that God will more readily hear his servants- 
when they intercede for us, than if we alone were 
to address ourselves to him.^ 

A. Yes: Job. xlii. 7, 8. the Lord said to Eliphaz 
the Temanite, ' My wrath is kindled against thee, 
and against thy two friends; for ye have not spo- 
ken of me the thing that is right, as my servant 
Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven 
bullocks, and seven rams, and go to my servant 
Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering, 
and my servant Job shall pray for you, for him 
will 1 accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, 
in that ye have not spoken of me the thing that is 
right, like m}'' servant Job.' 

Q. But is it not an injury to the mediatorship 
of Christ to desire the intercession of the angels 
and saints? 

A. No more than when we desire the interces- 
sion of God's servants here; because we desire 
no more of the saints than we do of our brethren 
upon earth, that is, we only desire of them to 
pray for us, and with us, to him that is both our 
Lord and their Lord, by the merits of his Son, 



i 



268 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Jesus Christ, who is both our Mediator and their 
Mediator. 

Q. Does not St. Paul say, 1 Tim. ii. 6. 'There 
is one God, and one Mediator between God and 
man, the man Jesus Christ;' and does not this ex- 
clude the intercession of the saints? 

A. The words immediately following are, * Who 
gave himself a ransom for all;' so that the plain 
meaning of the text is, that Christ alone is our 
Mediator of redemption. But as for intercession 
and prayer, as nothing hinders us from seeking 
the mediation of the faithful upon earth to pray 
for us, so nothing ought to hinder us from seeking 
the like from the saints and angels, though neither 
the one nor the other can obtain any thing for us 
any other way than through Jesus Christ, who is 
the only Mediator, who stands in need of no other 
to recommend his petitions. 

Q. Have you any thing else to add in favour of 
the Catholic doctrine and practice of the invoca- 
tion of saints? 

A. Yes: first, that it is agreeable to the 'com- 
munion of saints,' which we profess in the creed, 
and of which the Apostle speaks, Heb. xii. 22, 23, 
24. 'Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the 
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, 
and to an innumerable company of angels; to the 
general assembly and church of the first born, 
which are written in heaven, and to God the 
judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made 
perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new 
convenant,' &c. 

Secondly, that it is agreeable to the doctrine and 
practice of the ancient fathers, saints, and doctors 
of the church, and this by the confession even of 
our adversaries. 'I confess,' says Mr. Fulk, in his 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 269 

Rejoinder to Brisiow, p. 5. 'that Ambrose, Augus- 
tine, and Hierome, held invocation of the saints to 
be lawful;' and upon 2 Pet. i. J. 3. fol. 443. that in 
Naziaivzen, Basil, and Chrysostom, is mention of 
invocation of saints, and that Theodoret also speaks 
of prayers to the martyrs: and the Centuriators 
of Magdeburg, in their fourth century, col. 295, 
allege several examples of prayers to saints in St. 
Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. 
Ambrose, Prudentius, St. Epiphanius, and St. Ep- 
hrem. All which fathers, together with St. Au- 
gustine, St. Jerome, &c. are also charged by Mr. 
Brightman (in Apocalyp^, c. 14. p. 382.) of estab- 
lishing idolatry by invocation of saints, worshiping 
of relics, and such like wicked superstitions. And 
Mr. Thorndyke, in Epilog, par. 3. p. 358. writes 
thus; 'It is confessed, that the lights both of the 
,Greek and Latin church. St. Basil, St. Gregory 
Nazianzen, St. Gregory Nyssene, St. Ambrose, St. 
Jerume, St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom, St. Cyril 
of Jerusalem, St. Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret, 
St. Fulgentius, St. Gregory the Great, St. Leo, and 
more, or rather all after that time, have spoken to 
the saints, and desired their assistance.' See Me- 
lancthon, quarttt Parte Operum, p. 218.; Kemnitius, 
exam. par. 3. p. 200.; Beza, in Prsef. Nov. Test. 
Archbishop Whitgifts's Defence against Cartwright, 
p. 473.; and Daille, Advers. Lat. Tradit. p. 53. 

Thirdly, that it stands upon the same bottom as 
all other christian truths, viz. upon the authority 
of the church of Christ, which the scripture com- 
mands us to hear, with which both Christ and his 
holy Spirit will remain for ever, and against which 
the gates of hell shall not prevail. See St. Matt, 
xvi. 18. xviii. 17. xxviii. 20.; St. Luke x. 16. St. 
John xiv. 16, 17, 26, and xvi. 13. 

19* ' 



270 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Fourthly, that it has been authorized by God 
himself, by innumerable miracles in every age, 
wrought in favour of those that have desired the 
prayers and intercession of the saints. See St. 
Augustine's City of God, 1. 22. c. 8. 

Q. But what do you say to Coloss. ii. 18. where 
St. Paul condemns the religion or worship of an- 
gels; and to Rev. xix. 10. where the angel refused 
to be worshiped by St. John? 

A. I say, that neither one nor the other makes 
any thing against desiring the angels or saints to 
pray to God for us, for this is not giving them any 
adoration or divine worl^hip, no more than when 
we desire the prayers of one another. Now, it 
was adoration, or divine worship, which the angel 
refused to receive from St. John, Rev. xix. 'I fell 
at his feet to worship him,' says the Aposlle; 'and 
it was a superstitious worship,' and not the desir- 
ing the prayers of the angels, which is condemn- 
ed by St. Paul, Coloss. 'A superstitious worship,' 
I say, either of bad angels, of whom the Apostle 
speaks, ver. 15. or of good angels, in such a man- 
ner as to leave 'Christ not holding the head,' says 
the Apostle, ver. 19. such was the worship which 
many of the philosophers (against whom St. Paul 
warns the Colossians, ver. 8.) paid to angels or 
demons to whom they offered sacrifices, as to the 
necessary carriers of intelligence between the gods 
and m.en. Such also was the worship which Simon 
Magus, and many of the Gnosticks paid to the an- 
gels, v/hom they held to be the creators of the 
world. See Theodoret, 1. 5. Hser. Fah. c. 9. 

Q. What do you think of making addresses to 
the angels or saints upon our knees? Is not this 
giving them divine worship? 

A. No more than when we desire the blessing 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 271 

of our fathers or mothers u^on our knees; which 
is indeed the very case, since what we ask of our 
parents, when we desire their blessing, is that they 
would pray to God for us; and this same we ask 
of the angels and saints. 

Q. But is it not giving to the angels and saints 
the attributes of God, viz. the omniscience and 
omnipresence, that is, knowing all things, and 
being every where, if you suppose that they can 
hear or know all our addresses made to them? 

A. No: we neither believe the angels and saints 
to be every where, nor yet to have the know- 
ledge of all things, though we make no question 
but they know our prayers, since the scripture 
assures us that they offer them up to God, Rev. v. 
8. and viii. 3, 4. 

If jou ask me, how they can know our pray- 
ers without being every where, and knowing all 
things? I answer, that there are many ways by 
which they may know them. First, the angels 
may know them by being amongst us in quality 
of our guardians; and the saints may know them 
by the angels, whose conversation they enjoy. 

Secondly, both angels and saints may see them 
and know them in God, whom they continually 
see and enjoy, or by revelation from God, as in 
God they see the repentance of sinners. St. Luke 
XV. 10. For they that see God face to face, by 
the light of glory, discern all his divine attributes, 
and in them innumerable secrets impenetrable to 
nature. And therefore, though they themselves 
are not every where, yet, by contemplating him 
that sees and knows all things, they have a vast 
extent of knowledge of things that pass here be- 
low. 'In thy light shall we see light,' says the 
Hoyal Prophet, Psalm xxxv. (alias xxxvi. 9,) And 



272 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



*we shall be like to him,' says St. John, 1 John iii. 
2. 'lor we shall see him as he is.' For 'now we 
see,' say St. Paul, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 'through a glass 
darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part: 
but then shall I know, even, as also I am known.' 

Thirdly, both angels and saints may know our 
petitions addressed to them, by the ordinary way 
by which spirits speak to one another and hear 
one another, and that is, by our directing our 
thoughts to them with a desire of opening our 
minds to them; for we can no otherwise under- 
stand or explain the speech and conversation of 
spirits, who having neither tongues nor ears must 
converse together by the directing of their thoughts 
to one another. Now this kind of conversation by 
the thoughts, may extend to ever so great a dis- 
tance, as being independent on sound and all other 
corporal qualities, and consequently independent 
on distance. 

Besides all this, the saints, whilst they were 
here upon earth, knew very well the miseries we 
labour under in this vale of tears: they also knew 
that good christians earnestly desired to be helped 
by the prayers of God's saints; and as they knew 
this whilst they were here upon earth, so they know 
it still. Consequently, as their charity prompts 
them to pray for the faithful in general, so it is 
not to be doubted, but they pray more particularly 
for those who stand most in necessity of their 
prayers, or most earnestly desire their prayers; it 
being the property of charity, which is perfect in 
heaven, to act in this manner. Hence it follows, 
that though we were even to suppose, that the 
saints did not know in particular our addresses, 
yet it would still be profitable to desire their pray- 
ers, because they certainly pray for christians ia 



i 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 273 

general, and for those more particularly who de- 
sire the help of iheir prayers. 

In fine, the experience of eighteen hundred 
years, and the innumerable favours that have been 
granted in every age to those that have desired the 
prayers of the angels and saints, have convinced the 
church of God, that this devotion is both pleasing 
to God and profitable to us; and therefore we may 
dispense with ourselves from a curious enquiry into 
the manner of their knowing our requests, since wo 
find by experience so great benefit from them. 

Q. Does not the prophet Isaiah say, chap. IxiiL 
16. that 'Abraham is ignorant of us?' 

A. His meaning is plain, that the fatherly care 
and providence of God over his people were infinite- 
ly beyond that of Abraham and Israel, who v/ere 
their parents according to the flesh. 'Doubtless 
thou art our Father,' says the prophet, 'though 
Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknow- 
ledge us not; thou, O Lord! art our Father, our 
Redeemer,' &c. In the mean time, that Abraham 
was not ignorant of what passed amongst his chil- 
dren (though before Christ had opened heaven by 
his death, the patriarchs did not as yet enjoy the 
beatific vision) is clear from what we read, St. 
Luke xvi. 25, 26. 

And here I cannot but take notice, how strange- 
ly unreasonable the notions of some people are, 
who make a scruple of allowing any knowledge 
to the saints and angels of God, whilst they are 
ready enough to grant that the devils both know 
our works and hear the addresses of their impious 
invokers; as if these wretched spirits of darkness, 
by nature alone, could know more than the saints, 
who, besides the light of nature, enjoy the light of 
grace and glory; or, as if those rebels had acquired 



274 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

any greater degree of perfection and knowledge 
by their fall, than they would have had if they 
had remained angels. 

Q. But can yon prove from scripture, that the 
saints enjoy God in heaven, before the genera) 
resurrection? 

A. Yes; this is visibly the doctrine of St. Paul, 
2 Cor. v. 1. 'For we know, that if our earthly 
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a 
building of God, an house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heaven,' ver. 6 and 7. 'Therefore 
we are always confident, knowing that whilst we 
are at home in the body, we are absent from the 
Lord: (for we walk by faith, and not by sight) 
we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be 
absent from the body; and to be present with the 
Lord.' Where he visibly supposes, that the souls 
of the saints, when let loose from their bodies by 
death, enter into the eternal tabernacles, are pre- 
sent with the Lord, and enjoy his sight. The 
same thing he supposes, Philip, i. 23, 24. 'I am in 
a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, 
and to be with Christ; which is far better. Never- 
theless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

OF THE DEVOTION OF CATHOLICS TO THE BLESSED VIR- 
GIN, MARY; OF HER PERPETUAL VIRGINITY; OF THE 
BEADS, ROSARY, AND ANGELUS DOMINI. 

Q. What is the meaning of the great respect 
and devotion of Catholics to the blessed Virgin 
Mary? 

A. It is grounded, first, upon her great dignity 
of Mother of God, and the close relation which she 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 275 

has thereby to Jesus Christ her Son; for how is it 
possible to love and honour Christ with our whole 
heart, and not value and love his blessed Mother? 

Secondly, it is grounded upon that super-eminent 
grace which was bestowed upon her to prepare her 
for that dignity; upon account of which she was 
saluted by the angel Gabriel, St. Luke i. 28. ' full 
of grace,' (which the Protestants, who are no great 
friends of this ever-blessed Virgin, have chosen 
rather to translate highly favoured;) and both by 
the angel and by St. Elizabeth, St. Luke i. 42, 
she is styled, ' Blessed among women.' 

Thirdly, it is grounded upon her extraordinary 
sanctity; for if she was full of grace before she 
conceived in her womb the fountain of all grace, 
to what a degree of sanctity and grace must she 
have arrived during so many years as she lived 
afterwards? especially since she bore nine months 
in her womb the author of all sanctity, and had 
him thirty years under the roof, ever contemplat- 
ing him and his heavenly mysteries, St. Luke ii. 
19 and 51; and on her part never making any 
resistance to the affluence of his graces ever flow- 
ing in upon her happy soul. 

Fourthly, it is grounded upon that super-eminent 
degree of heavenly glory, with which God has now 
honoured her, in proportion to her grace and sanc- 
tity here upon earth, and the great interest she 
has with' her blessed Son, and through him with 
his heavenly Father. 

Q. Is there any thing in scripture that insin- 
uates this great devotion, that should be in all 
ages to this blessed Virgin? 

A. Yes, it was foretold by herself in her Can- 
ticle, St. Luke i. 48. 'Behold from henceforth all 
generations shall call me blessed?' 



276 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. Do you then allow divine honour or worship 
to the blessed Virgin Mary? 

A, No certainly: the church in this, as in all 
other things, keeps the golden mean between the 
two extremes: she condemns those that refuse to 
honour this blessed Mother of God; but those much 
more that would give her divine worship. She 
thinks no honour that can be given to any pure 
creature too great for this blessed Virgin: but as 
she knows that there is an infinite distance still 
between her and God, she is far from offering 
sacrifice to her, or paying her any worship that 
belongs to God alone. And whatever honour 
she gives the Mother, she refers it to the glory 
of the Son, as the chief motive and end of all her 
devotions. 

Q. But why do you call the blessed Virgin the 
Mother of God? 

A. Because she is truly the Mother of Jesus 
Christ, who is true God and true man, and conse- 
quently she is truly the Mother of God; not by 
being Mother of the Divinity, but by being Mother 
of him who in one and the same Person is both 
God and man. Hence she is called by St. Eliza- 
beth, Luke i. 'The Mother of my Lord.'' 

Q, Why does the church in her hymns and an- 
thems style the blessed Virgin, mother of mercy. 

A, Because she is the Mother of him who is the 
fountain of all grace and mercy; and is both most 
willing by reason of her super-eminent charity, 
and most able by her great interest with her Son 
to obtain grace and mercy for us. 

Q. And why is she styled the queen of heaven, 
or the queen of angels and saints? 

A, Because she is the Mother of the King of 
heaven, and the greatest of all the saints. 



I 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 277 

Q. What then do you think of those that pre- 
sume to say she was no more than any other 
woman; nor ought to have any regard or honour 
paid to her? 

A, Such as these have very little regard to 
Jesus Christ, whose Mother they treat with such 
contempt. 

Q. And what do you think of the opinion of 
those that say, she had children by St. Joseph 
after the birth of our Saviour? 

A, This was a heresy condemned by the church 
near fourteen hundred years ago, as contrary to 
apostolical tradition, and to the very creed of the 
Apostles, which styles her Virgin. And that in- 
deed she had determined by vow never to know 
man, the holy fathers gather from her words to 
the angel, St. Luke i. 34. ' How shall this be, for 
I know not man?' 

Q. Who then were they that are called in the 
scripture the brethren of our Saviour? 

A, They are named by St. Mark vi. 3. James 
and Joses or Joseph, and Jude, and Simon or Si- 
meon: these were the sons of Mary, the wife of 
Cleophas, whom the gospel calls the sister, that is, 
the near kinswoman of the blessed Virgin, and 
therefore her sons are called our Saviour's breth- 
ren, according to the usual scripture phrase, by 
which those that are near a-kin are called brothers 
and sisters. 

If you ask me how I prove that Mary, the wife 
of Cleophas was niother to James and Joses, &c. I 
prove it evidently by comparing the gospel to- 
gether: St. Mathew chap, xxvii. ver. 66, acquaints 
us, that amongst the women, who had followed 
our Saviour from Galilee ministering to him, and 
who were present at his death, were Mary Mag- 

24 



278 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

dalene and Mary the mother of James and loses, 
&c. which same thing is attested by St. Mark 
chap. XV. ver. 40. Now St. John xix. 25. express- 
ly informs us, that this Mary, who stood by the 
cross, was sister to the blessed Virgin and wife of 
Cleophas: so that James, Joses, &c. as it is mani- 
fest from the gospel, were not children of our 
Lady, but of her kinswoman Mary the wife of 
Cleophas. 

Q, But why then is our Saviour called her first- 
born, St. Matt. i. 25. and St. Luke ii. 7. 

A, It is a Hebrew phrase, not signifying that 
any were born after him, but that no one was 
born before him. 

Q. And why is it said of St. Joseph, St. Matt. i. 
25. Uhat he knew her not till she had brought 
forth,' &c. 

A, This also was said, according to a propriety 
of speech amongst the Hebrews, to signify what 
was not done before without meddling with the 
question what was done after: this latter being 
foreign to the great point which the Evangelist 
had then in view, which was to assure us that 
Christ was born of a virgin. We have exam- 
ples of the like expressions in the Old Testament; 
as when, Psalm cix. (alias ex.) it is said, 'The 
Lord saith to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand 
till I make my enemies thy footstool.' Will he 
therefore cease to sit at the right-hand of his 
Father, after his enemies are made his footstool; 
no certainly. 

I Q. What is the common address which the 
church makes to the blessed Virgin Mary? 

A, The angelical salutation of the Hail Mary: 
a great part of which is taken out of the gospel, 
St. Luke i. 28, and 42; and the other part is added 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 279 

by the church to beg the prayers of the blessed 
Virgin for us sinners. 

Q. Why do Catholics so often repeat the Hail 
Mary? 

A. To commemorate the Incarnation of the Son 
of God; to honour his blessed Mother, and to de- 
sire her prayers. 

Q, What is the meaning of the Beads? 

A, It is a devotion consisting of a certain num- 
ber of Our Fathers, and Hail Maries, directed for 
the obtaining of blessings from God, through the 
prayers and intercession of our Lady. 

Q. But is it not highly absurd, that according lo 
the common way of saying the Beads, there are 
repeated ten Hail Maries for one Our Father? 

A, It would be absurd indeed and blasphemous 
too, if the meaning of this were to signify that the 
blessed Virgin is either more powerful or more 
merciful than her Son; or that we have a greater 
confidence in her than in him: but we are far from 
any such notions. 

Q, Why then is the Hail Mary repeated so much 
oftener in the Beads than the Lord's Prayer? 

A. Because the Beads being a devotion particu- 
larly instituted to commemorate the Incarnation of 
Christ, and to honour him in his blessed Mother, 
it was thought proper to repeat so much the oftener 
that prayer which is particularly adapted to these 
ends. In the mean time it may be proper to take 
notice, first, that if in the Beads there be ten Hail 
Maries said for one Our Father; in the Mass and 
Office of the church almost all the prayers are 
directed to God alone. Secondly, that every Hail 
Mary, both by the nature of the prayer, and the 
intention of the church, is directed more to the 
honour of the Son than of the Mother; as well be- 



280 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

cause the church, in honouring the Mother, has 
principally in view the honour of the Son; as al- 
so because this prayer particularly relates to the 
Incarnation of Christ; and if withal it begs the 
prayers of the blessed Virgin, it is plain that he 
is more honoured to whom we desire she should 
address her prayer, than she, whom we only de- 
sire to pray for us. 

To which, if we add, that her prayers are tea 
times better and more acceptable to God than ours, 
it will appear no ways absurd that we should fre- 
quently desire her prayers. For as to the repeti- 
tion of the same prayel*, it is what is recommended 
to us by the example of our Lord, St. Matt. xxvi. 
42, 44, &c. and has nothing of absurdity in it. 

Q. What is the meaning of the Rosary? 

A. The Rosary is a method of saying the Beads, 
so as to meditate upon the Incarnation, Passion 
and Resurrection of Christ. And it is divided into 
three parts, each part consisting of five Mysteries, 
to be contemplated during the repeating of five 
decads or tens upon the Beads. The first five are 
called the five joyful Mysteries: viz. the Annuncia- 
tion, when our Lord was first conceived in his 
Mother's womb; the Visitation when the blessed 
Virgin visited her kinswoman St. Elizabeth, and 
by her was declared blessed among Women, 6lc, 
the Nativity of our Lord; his Presentation in the 
Temple, together with the Purification of the bless- 
ed Virgin; and his being found in the Temple in 
the midst of the doctors, &c. The five next are 
called the dolorous or sorrowful Mysteries, as hav- 
ing relation to the Passion of Christ; and are 
his Prayer and Agony in the Garden; his being 
scourged at the Pillar; his crowning with Thorns; 
his Carriage of the Cross; and his Crucifixion and 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 281 

Death: the five last are called the five glorious 
Mysteries, viz. the Eesurrection of our Lord; his 
Ascension into Heaven; the Coming of the Holy 
Ghost; the Assumption of the blessed Virgin; and 
her Coronation; together with the eternal Glory 
of the Saints in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Q. What is the meaning of giving three tolls 
with the bells every morning, noon and night, in 
all Catholic countries? 

A, This is to remind the faithful of the great 
mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God; and 
it is the practice of all good christians, when they 
hear these bells, to perform the devotion which we 
call the Angelus Domini. 

Q. What is this devotion, and in what manner 
is it performed? 

A, The bell tolls three times, with a short space 
between each time. At the first toll we say, 'The 
Angel of the Lord declaimed to Mary, and she con- 
ceived of the Holy Ghost;' then we say the Haii 
Mary, &c. At the second toll we say, 'Behold the 
hand-maid of the Lord, be it done to me according 
to thy word,' Hail Mary, &c. At the third toll we 
say, 'And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
amongst us;' Hail Mary, &c. Then we conclude 
with the following prayer. 

Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord! thy grac€ 
into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation 
of Christ thy Son was made known by the mes- 
sage of an angel, may by his passion and cross be 
brought to the glory of his resurrection. Through 
the same Christ our Lord, Amen. 

This devotion is used in all Catholic countries, 
and is called the Angelus Domini, from the first 
words, the Angel of the Lord, &;c. 

24* 



282 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

OF THE USE AND VENERATION OF RELICS IN THE 
CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

Q. What do you mean by Relics? 

A. The dead bodies or bones of the saints we 
call Relics; as also whatever other things have 
belonged to them in their mortal life. 

Q. And what is the doctrine and practice of the 
church with regard to these things? 

A. We keep such things as these with a reli- 
gious respect and veneration for the sake of those 
to whom they have belonged, but principally for 
the sake of him to whom the saints themselves 
belonged; that is, for the greater glory of God, 
who is glorious in his saints, and to whom is re- 
ferred all the honour that is given to his saints. 

Q. What reasons has the church for showing 
this respect to the dead bodies or bones of the 
saints? 

A. First, because they have been the victims 
and the living temples of God, in which his divine 
Majesty has in a particular manner inhabited, and 
which he has sanctified by his presence and grace: 
and therefore, if God required of Moses, Exod. iii. 
5. and of Joshua, Josh. v. 15. to loose their shoes 
from off their feet, in respect to the ground on 
which they stood, as being rendered holy by his 
presence, or that of his angels, we must conclude, 
that it is agreeable to his divine Majesty that we 
should testify the like honour to that venerable 
earth of the bodies of his saints, which he in such 
an extraordinary manner has sanctified, by abid- 
ing in them as in his temples. 

Secondly, we know that the bodies of the saints 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 



283 



are pre-ordained to a happy resurrection and eter- 
nal glory, and upon this account also deserve our 
respect. 

Thirdly, the bodies and other relics of the saints 
have been, and are daily the instruments of the 
power of God, for the working of innumerable 
miracles, which God, who is truth and sanctity 
itself, would never have effected, if it had not been' 
agreeable to him that we should honour and respect 
these precious remnants of his servants. 

Fourthly, the relics and shrines of the martyrs 
and other saints serve much to encourage the faith- 
ful to an imitation of their virtues, and to help to 
raise their souls from the love of things present 
and temporal to the love of things eternal. 

Q. Did the primitive christians show this respect 
to the relics of the saints? 

A. Yes: nothing is more evident, from all kind 
of monuments of antiquity, than that the veneration 
of the relics of the saints is one of the most ancient 
things in Christianity. The learned church-his- 
torian Eusebius, 1. 7. c. 19. relates that St. James's 
chair was kept with great veneration by the chris 
tians of Jerusalem, from the Apostles time till the 
days in which the historian wrote, that is, till the 
beginning of the fourth century. The acts of the 
martyrdom of St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, dis- 
ciple of the Apostles, who suffered at Rome, anno 
107, written by the christians who accompanied 
him to Rome, bear record, that his holy relics 
were carried to Antioch by the christians, and left 
to that church as an inestimable treasure. The 
christians of Smyrna, in the account that they give 
of the martyrdom of their holy bishop St. Poly- 
carp, disciple of the Apostles, inform us, that the 
faithful carried away his relics, which they valued 



284 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

more than gold and precious stones, Euseb. hist. 1. 
4^ c. 15. And that this veneration of relics was 
approved by all the most holy and most learned 
bishops and doctors of the church, and condemned 
by none but infidels and heretics, such as Julian 
the apostate, Eunomius and Vigilantius, may be 
seen in the writings of the holy fathers. See St. 
Basil, in Ps. 115. t. 1. p. 274; Homil. 5. in Mar- 
tyrem Julittam, p. 217; Horn. 20. in 40; Martyes, 
p. 479, St. Gregory Nyssen, Orat. de S. Theodoro 
Marty re, t. 3; St. Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. 3. in 
Julianum, t. 1. p. 76, 77, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 
Catech. 18; St. John Chrysostom, ad Pap. Ant. 
Horn. 40, 47, 59. 1. contra Gentiles, Horn. 26. in 2 
Cor. 2, &c.; St. Ambrose, Epist. 22; St. Hierome. 
1. adversus Vigilantium. St. Augustine, 1. 9. Con- 
fess, c. 7. Serm. 92. de Diversis, 1. 22. of the city 
of God, c. 8. Epist. 103; Theodoret, L 8. contra 
Grsecos, &c. To pass over many others, who all 
agree in approving this practice; and all or most 
of them bear record, that God also has approved it 
by innumerable miracles. 

Q. But have you any instance in scripture of 
miracles wrought by the bones of God's saints, or 
other things belonging to them? 

A. Yes; we read 2 (alias 4.) Kings xiii. 21. of a 
dead man raised to life by the touch of the bones 
of the prophet Elisha, and ^cts xix. 12. 'that from 
the body of Paul were brought unto the sick, hand- 
kerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from 
them, and the evil spirits went out of them. 

Q. But does not Christ reprehend the Scribes 
and Pharisees for building up and adorning the so/ 
pulchres of the Prophets, St. Matt, xxiii.29,30,31.? 

A. He does not reprehend them for the action, 
which in itself was good, but for their wicked dis- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 285 

positions; inasmuch as, whilst they should seem to 
honour the prophets, and thereby obtain the favouT 
of the people, they sought all The while to fill up 
the measure of their fathers, by persecuting unto 
the death the Lord of prophets. 

Q. What kind of honour does the Catholic Church 
allow to relics? 

A, An inferior and relative honour, as to things 
belonging to God^s saints; but by no means divine 
honour. 

Q. But are not candles allowed to burn before 
them? and are they not sometimes fumed with 
incense? 

A, These are honours indeed, but such as we 
may give to one another; as in effect we incense in 
the church both clergy and people, and burn can- 
dles to our princes upon occasions of joy: for since 
these honours are no ways appropriated to God, 
either by the nature of the things in themselves, 
or by any divine ordinance, why may not the 
church of God allow them to the relics of the 
saints.^ not as divine honours, but as tokens of our 
love and respect to them; of our joy for the tri- 
umphs of Christ in his saints, and as emblems of 
their eternal life, light and glory. 

Q. Does not this practice of the veneration of 
relics expose the faithful to the danger of idolatry 
and superstition, by honouring false' relics? 

A. No: first, because the church of God, by her 
public canons and her zealous pastors, takes what 
care she can to prevent such impostures. Second- 
ly, because, if by the wickedness of men it should 
sometimes happen that the faithful should be im- 
posed upon in this regard, so far as to honour a 
false relic for a true one, there would be neither 
any idolatry nor superstition in the case, but a 



286 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

mistake on their part, innocent, as when a char- 
itable christian relieves an impostor or a hypo- 
crite, innocently believing him to be a real object 
of charity. 

Q. Bui if the church has so much zeal against 
false relics, how comes she to tolerate them in so 
many cases, as when divers churches pretend to 
possess the body of the same saint, for some or* 
other of these must be false relics? 

A, You are too hasty in concluding that these 
must needs be false relics, first, because it often 
happens, that some part of the body of a saint is 
in one place, and some part in another, in which 
case both places claim the body of such a saint, 
though they really possess only a part of it; and 
yet neither the one or the other is therefore to hQ 
charged with honouring false relics. Secondly, 
many of the saints and martyrs have borne the 
same names, and hence it easily happens, that 
relics, which indeed belong to one saint, are at- 
tributed to another of the same name. Thirdly, 
there have been many ancient martyrs, whose 
names at present are not known, whose relics 
nevertheless have been all along honoured by the 
church: now it was easy that the ignorance of 
some, or the vanity of others, might attribute to 
them the names of other saints: so that all these 
may be true relics, notwithstanding they do not all 
belong to the saints to whom they are attributed. 

Q. What is the meaning of making pilgrimages 
to the shrines or other memorials of the saints? 

A, To honour God in his saints, to excite devo- 
tion by the sight of those places sanctified by these 
heavenly pledges, and to obtain graces and bless- 
ings of God by the prayers of the saints: for 
though God be every where, and his bounty and 



I 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 287 

mercy be not confined to any particular place, yet 
the experience of all past ages convinces us, that it 
is his holy will and pleasure to bestow his favours 
more plentifully, and to show more frequent and 
miraculous effects of his power and goodness in 
some places than in others, see St. Augustine, 
epist. 137. 

Q. Have not Catholics a more than ordinary 
veneration for the wood of the cross, the nails, 
thorns, and other instruments of Christ's passion? 

A. Yes, they have, because these things have so 
close a relation to the passion of Christ, by which 
we were redeemed, and have been sanctified by 
the blood of our Redeemer. 



CHAPTER XXVH. 

OF THE USE OF PICTURES AND IMAGES IN THE CA- 
THOLIC CHURCH. 

Q. What is the doctrine of the church with re- 
gard to pictures or images of Christ and his saints? 

A, First, that it is good to keep them and retain 
them, and to have them in churches, not only for 
ornament and for the instruction of the ignorant, 
but for the honour and remembrance of Christ and 
his saints, and for a help to raise our thoughts and 
hearts to heavenly things. Secondly, that there 
is relative honour due to them, by reason of the 
persons whom they represent. See the second 
Council of Nice, Act 7. and the Council of Trent, 
Sess. 25. 

^ Q. Does the Catholic Church give divine wor- 
ship to the pictures or images of Christ of his 
saints? 

A. No, by no means: the second Council of 



28S. CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTSUCTEU. 

Nice, in the 7th Action or Session, has expressly 
declared, that divine worship is not to be given 
ihemj to v^hich the Council of Trent, in the 25th 
Session, has added, that we are not to beHeve that 
there is any divinity or power in them for which 
they are to be worshiped,- and that we are not to 
pray to them, nor put our trust or confidence in 
fhem. 

Q. But does not the first (or second) command- 
ment absolutely forbid the making of any image, or 
the likeness of any thing in heaven, earth, or sea? 

A, No: it only forbids the making of idols, that 
is, of such images as are made for gods, and are 
worshiped as such; or in which a divinity or divine 
virtue and power is believed to reside. Hence the 
ancient version of the Septuagint (which is vener- 
able by having been made use of by the Apostles 
themselves) renders the words of the command- 
ment thus, ' Thou shalt not make thyself an idol,' 
&c. And that God does not absolutely forbid the 
making of the likeness of any thing, is not only 
the general belief of all christians, who carry 
about with them without scruple the likeness of 
their kings in the current coin of their respective 
countries, but is visible from scripture, wherein 
* God commanded the making of two cherubims of 
beaten gold, to be placed over the Ark of the Cov- 
enant in the very Sanctuary,' Exod. xxv. 18, 19, 
20, 21, 'and in like manner commanded the mak- 
ing of the brazen serpent, for the healing of those 
who were bit by the fiery serpents,' Numb. xxi. 
8, 9, which serpent was an emblem of Christ, St. 
John iii. 14, 15. 

Q, But at least, does not God forbid, by this 
commandment, all honour or reverence to pictures 
or images? 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 289 

A, He forbids all honour or reverence to idols 
or image gods, but not the relative honour which 
Catholics show to the pictures of Christ and his 
saints, for the sake of the persons represented by 
them, for it is visible, that the images which by 
this commandment are forbid to be honoured, are 
also, by the express words of the commandments, 
forbid to be made. Now few or none christians 
suppose that the pictures of Christ or his saints 
are forbid to be made; therefore they cannot infer 
from this commandment, that they are forbid to be 
honoured, since this commandment does not speak 
of them at all, but only of idols or images set up to 
be worshiped for gods. 

Q. What then do you mean by this relative 
honour, which you allow to the picture of Christ 
and his saints? 

A. By a relative honour 1 mean an honour which 
is given to a thing, not for any intrinsic excellence 
or dignity in the thing itself, but only for the 
relation which it has to something else, which it 
represents or brings to our remembrance; as when 
christians bow to the name of Jesus, which is an 
image or remembrance of our Saviour to the ear 
as the crucifix is to the eye. 

Q, Have you any instances of this kind of rela- 
tive honour allowed to Protestants? 

A. Yes: in the honour they give to the name of 
Jesus, to their churches, to the altar, to the Bible, 
to the symbols of bread and wine in the sacrament, 
to the king's chair, &c. Such also was the honour 
which the Jews gave to the ark and cherubims, to 
the sanctuary, &c. and which Moses and Joshua 
gave to the land on which they stood, as being 
boly ground, Exod. iii. 5. Josh. r. 15. 

25 



290 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. How do you prove that there is a relative 
honour due to the images or pictures of Christ and 
his saints? 

. A. Because it is evidently agreeable, as well to 
nature and reason, as to piety and religion, to ex- 
press our esteem and affection for those whom we 
honour and love, by setting a value upon all things 
that belong to them, or have any relation to them. 
Thus good christians, that love God with their 
whole hearts, honour all things that are dedicated 
to his service, or that are memorials of him, or 
have a relation to him; as his temples, his altars, 
his name, his word, his sacraments, the sacred 
Yessels, &;c. And thus it is that we honour the 
effigies of Christ, of his blessed Mother, and of the 
saints, as memorials and representations of them, 
and as helps to raise our thoughts to them. And 
is it not thus that a loyal subject, a dutiful child, a 
loving friend, value the pictures of their king, fa- 
ther, or friend? And would not these very men 
that make no scruple of abusing the image of Christ, 
severely punish such as would abuse the image of 
the king? 

Q. Do you then allow of worshiping God by an 
image? 

A, If you mean by worshiping God by an image, 
the raising up your hearts to God by or upon occa- 
sion of the sight of the picture or image; or the 
referring to Jesus Christ and to his worship what- 
ever honour or respect we show to his picture or 
image; there can be no reason to disallow the 
worshiping of God by a picture or image. But if 
worshiping God by an image be so understood, as 
if the divinity in some particular manner resided 
in the image; or some virtue or power, for which 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 291 

it should be worshiped or trusted in; or as if our 
worship or prayers were believed to be more ac- 
ceptable to God and to have more influepce upon 
him, when offered or presented by or through any 
such image; such kind of worshiping God by an 
image is not only not allowed but condemned by 
the Catholic Church. See the Council of Trent,. 
Sess. 25. 

Q, What means then the blessing of crucifixes 
or other images, if no virtue or power be believed 
to reside in them after they are blessed? 

A, The church blesses all things that are used 
about the altar; not by way of imparting to theni 
any intrinsic power or virtue, but by way of de- 
dicating them to the divine service, and begging 
God's blessing for those that make use of them; sa 
that whatever advantage may be supposed in the 
use of them after they are blessed more than be- 
fore, is wholly to be attributed to the prayers of 
the church. 

Q. But are there not certain images, to which 
great miracles are attributed; therefore Catholics 
must believe that in these at least there is some 
divinity, virtue or power? 

A. There have been many instances of undoubt- 
ed miracles wrought by God in the churches of 
the blessed Virgin and other saints, in favour of 
those that have sought their prayers and inter- 
cession before tie pictures or images. But these 
miracles are not to be attributed to any divinity or 
power in the image, but to the Almighty power of 
God, moved to work these wonders by the prayers 
of his saints, and bearing testimony thereby to the 
faith of his church, and showing his approbatioa 
of her religious practices. 



292 CATHOLIC CHKISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. What do you think of the images or pictures 
of God the Father, or of the blessed Trinity? 

A, I think that no corporeal image can bear a 
resemblance with, the divinity; and consequently 
that it would be unlawful to pretend to make* any 
such likeness or resemblance. Bui where no such 
resemblance is pretended, I do not take it to be 
more unlawful to paint God the Father under the 
figure of a venerable old man, because he was so 
represented in the vision of Daniel, chap. vii. ver. 
9. than it is to paint the Holy Ghost under the 
figure of a dove, because he appeared so when 
Christ was baptized, St. Matt. iii. 16. 

Q. What do you think of the charge of idol- 
atry laid to the church by some of her adver- 
saries, upon ac90unt of the use and veneration of 
images? 

A. I think that nothing could be more visibly 
unjust than such a charge; since idolatry is giv- 
ing divine honour and service to an idol, or false 
God : which is far from being the case of the Ca- 
tholic Church. We acknowledge one only true 
and living God in three Persons, Father, and Son, 
and Holy Ghost: to him alone do we offer sacrifice 
or any other divine honours. Him alone do we 
adore in spirit and truth. Whatever else in heav- 
en or on earth we religiously honour, we honour 
for his sake, and for the relation it has to him. 
And as for the worship of idols op false gods it has 
been banished out of the world by the labours and 
preaching of our church alone: so far are we from 
abetting idolatry. 

Q. What then do you think of the parallel 
which some would make between the Heathen and 
Catholic worship? 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 293 

A. I think that it is infinitely unjust and unrea- 
sonable, as must appear to any unprejudiced mind 
by the following remarks. 

First, Catholics adore and offer sacrifice to one 
only true and living God: the Heathens adored 
and offered sacrifices to many false gods. 

Secondly, the supreme object of Catholic worship 
is the sacred Trinity blessed for evermore: the su- 
preme object of the Heathen worship was the sun, 
or some other part of God's creation; or else some 
wicked man, or more wicked devil. For Heathen 
idolatry, according to the Apostle, Rom. i. 25, 
'changed the truth of God into a lie, and worship- 
ing and serving the creature more than the Crea- 
tor, who is blessed for ever.' The sun, and his 
symbol, the fire, was of old the sovereign God of 
the Persians; as he was of late of the inhabitant* 
of Peru: the same was worshiped as their chief 
God by the Phoenicians under the name of Baal; 
by the Ammonites under the name of Moloch; by 
the Moabites under the name of Chamos; by the 
Accaronites under the name of Belzebub; by those 
of Gaza under the name of Marnas, &;c. according 
to Vossius, Selden, and the whole nation of the 
critics, alleged by the Protestant Doctor Parker, 
test. p. 97. Him they called the king of heaven; 
as they called the moon or Astarte the queen of 
heaven. Of like nature was the sovereign object 
of the worship of the Egyptians, viz. Ammon the 
ram, and Osiris the bull, which are the two first 
signs of the Zodiack, and were worshiped as sym- 
bols of the sun according to Doctor Parker, Ibidem, 
The chief God of the Greeks and Heathen Ro- 
mans, was Jupiter, who was originally a king that 
reign A in Crete; as the wiser Heathens have ao- 

25* 



294 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

knowl edged. He was not esteemed eternal by any 
of them; but the son of Saturn, that is, of time; 
and by much posterior to heaven and earth. As 
for his idols and oracles, he who gave answers 
thereby was no God, but an arch devil, as chris- 
tians have ever believed. 

Thirdly, Catholics honour, though not with any 
part of divine worship, the angels and saints of 
God, as belonging to him, and as truly worthy of 
honour, upon account of the excellent gifts of 
grace and glory received from him: but they ask 
nothing of them but what they know must come 
from God's hands; and therefore their usual ad- 
dress to them is. Pray for us: the Heathens not 
only gave the sovereign worship of adoration and 
sacrifice to their inferior deities, but looked upon 
them in many respect independent of their chief 
God (whilst they made him, himself dependent 
upon fate) and according they addressed them- 
selves to them not as intercessors (for in the whole 
Heathen theology we shall scarce find an Ora pro 
nobis) but as distributers of blessings and gifts to 
men, according to their different offices and powers. 

Fourthly, those whom the Catholics honour with 
an inferior veneration for God's sake are indeed 
the ministers and servants of the one true God. 
The inferior deities of the Heathens were wicked 
wretches, such as Mars, Bacchus, Hercules, Venus, 
&c. or rather devils as we learn from many texts 
of scripture: See Levit. xvii. 7; Deuter. xxxi. 17; 
Ps. cvi. 37; 1 Cor. x. 20. 

Fifthly, as to images; not to speak of the im- 
mense distance between the objects represented by 
Catholics and by Heathens, it is certain that the 
heathens, at the least the generality of tlt%m, be- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 295 

lieved the very idols to be gods; for which see 
Gen. xxu 30, 32; Exod. xx. 23; Levit. xix. 4; 
Judges xviii. 24; 2 Kings xvii. 29, and xix. 18; 
Isai. xliv. 17; Jerem. ii. 26, 27; Acts xix. 26. And 
as for those who would seem to be more refined in 
their notion and worship, they believed at least 
that the idols by consecration became the bodies 
of their gods, the places of their peculiar residence^ 
the symbols of their presence, and the seats of 
their power. And accordingly these, as well as 
the others, offered prayers and sacrifice to the idols, 
and gave them the names of the deities which they 
worshiped in them. Now we neither believe our 
images to be gods, nor to be the bodies of God, nor 
the peculiar places of his residence, nor symbols 
of his presence, nor to have any power or virtue 
in them; nor do we put our trust in them, or offer 
sacrifice or other divine honours to them. There- 
fore there is no similitude between the heathen 
worship and ours. 

As for the Jewish worship of the golden calf in 
the wilderness, and afterwards of the calves of 
Jeroboam at Bethel and Dan, which some are wil- 
ling to extenuate, as if they did not take these 
images to be gods, but thereby only meant to wor- 
ship the God of Israel, the Scripture gives us a 
quite different account; witness these texts, Exod. 
xxxii. 8. *They have made them a molten calf, 
and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed there- 
unto, and said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which 
have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,' 
ver. 31. 'They have made them gods of gold.' 
Psalm cvi. (alias cv.) 19, 20, 21. 'They made a 
calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molten image: 
they changed their glory (their God) into the simi- 



296 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

litude of an ox that eateth grass: they forgot God 
their Saviour, which had done great things in 
Egypt.*! Acts vii. 39, 40,41. 'To whom our fa- 
thers would not obey, but thrust him from them, 
and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, 
saying to Aaron, make us gods to go before us. — 
And they made a calf in those days, and offered 
sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of 
their own hands. Then God turned and gave 
them up to worship the host of heaven.' And of 
the calves of Jeroboam, 1 Kings xii. 28. 'He made 
two calves of gold and said unto them,— Behold 
thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the 
land of Egypt;' and ver. 32. 'He sacrificed to the 
calves that he had made.' And 1 Kings xiv. 9. 
' he is accused by the prophet Abijah to have gone 
and made him other gods and molten images,' and 
'to have cast the Lord behind his back.' 2 Chron. 
xi. 15. 'He ordained him priest for the high places, 
and for the devils, and for the calves which he had 
made.' 2 Chron. xiii. 8. 'There are with you 
golden calves which Jeroboam made unto you for 
gods,' ver. 9. ' Have ye not cast out the priest, &c. 
and made you priests after the manner of the na- 
tions of them that be no gods,' ver. 10. 'But 

as for us, the Lord is our God.' 

But if any one will be contentious and maintain 
that these idolatrous Israelites intended to worship 
in these calves, not the Egyptian Osiris, nor any 
other false divinity, but the God of Israel, because 
Aaron (who made the calf against his will by com- 
pulsion of* the people) seems to give it the proper 
name of the God of Israel, Exod. xxxiii. 6. 'To- 
morrow is a feast to the Lord.' Supposing this to 
be true, their worship would still have been idola- 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTJRUCTEU. 297 

trous, and these calves properly idols; because they 
believed (as is manifest from the text above quoted) 
these very calves to be gods; or, if you will have 
it so, to be the Lord of Israel; or, at least, that 
the divinity had upon their dedication insinuated 
itself into them; and accordingly they gave divine 
praises and offered sacrifice to them. Now, to 
believe any image to be God, or to imagine any 
divinity, power or virtue in it, for which it is to 
be worshiped, or to offer sacrifice to an image, is 
an idolatrous worship, and cannot be excused, how- 
ever the image be pretended by its worshipers to 
repesent the true God, 

Q. Is there not in one of the church-hymns, and 
m one of the anthems of the Roman Breviary, a 
prayer to the cross? how then do you maintain 
that the Catholic Church does not attribute any 
power to images, nor prays to them? 

A, The prayer you speak of is not directed 
to the wood of the cross, but Christ crucified, 
by a figure of speech, as when St. Paul says^ 
Gal. vi. 14. *that he glories in the cross of Jesus 
Christ. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

OP EXORCISMS, AND BENEDICTIONS OR BLESSINGS OF 
CREATURES IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND OF THB 
USE OF HOLY WATER. 

Q. What do you mean by Exorcism? 

A, The rites and prayers instituted by the church 
for the casting out devils, or restraining them from 
hurling persons, disquieting places, or abusing any 
of God's creatures to our harm. 



298 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Q. Has Christ given his church any such po\ver 
over the devils? 

A. Yes he has: see St. Matt. x. 1; St. Mark iii. 
13; St. Luke ix. 1; 'where this power was given 
to the Apostles; and to the seventy-two Disciples,' 
St. Luke X. 19; 'and to other believers,' St. Mark 
xvi. 17. And that this power was not to die with 
the Apostles, nor to cease after the apostolic age, 
we learn from the perpetual practice of the church 
and the experience of all ages. 

Q. What is the meaning of blessing so many 
things in the Catholic Church? 

A, We bless churches, and other places set aside 
for divine service; altars, chalices, vestments, &;c. 
by way of devoting them to holy uses; we bless 
our meats and other inanimate things which God 
has given us for our use, that we may use them in 
moderation, in a manner agreeable to God's institu- 
tion; that they may be servicable to us, and that 
the devil may have no power to abuse them to our 
prejudice: we bless candles, salt, water, &c. by 
way of begging of God that such as religiously use 
them may obtain his blessing, &;c. 

Q. But does it not savour of superstition to attri- 
bute any virtue to such inanimate things as blessed 
candles, holy water, Agnus DeVs, &c. 

A, It is no superstition to look for a good effect 
from the prayers of the Church of God; and it is 
in virtue of these prayers that we hope for benefit 
from these things, when used with faith, and daily 
experience shows that our hopes are not vain. 

Q. What do you mean by Agnus DeVs? 

A, Wax stamped with the image of the Lamb 
of God blessed by the Pope with solemn prayers, 
and anointed with the holy chrism. 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 299 

Q. What warrant have you in scripture for 
blessing inanimate things? 

A, 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5. 'Every creature of God is 
good, and nothing to be riefused, if it be received 
with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word 
of God and prayer.' 

Q, Why does the Church make use of the 
sign of the cross in all her blessings and con- 
secrations? 

A. To signify that all our good must come 
through Christ crucified. 

Q. What do you mean by Holy Water? 

A, Water sanctified by the word of God and 
prayer. 

Q. What is the use of Holy Water? 

A, It is used by the Church with solemn pray- 
ers, to beg God's protection and blessing upon 
those that use it, and in particular that they may 
be defended from all the powers of darkness. 

Q. Is the use of Holy Water very ancient in 
the Church of God? 

A, It is very ancient, since it is mentioned in 
the Apostolical Constitutions, 1. 8. c. 29. And as 
for the English nation in particular, it is visible 
from the epistles of St. Gregory the Great, 1. 9. 
epist. 71. 'that we received it together with our 
Christianity.' 

Q. Have the holy fathers and ancient Church 
writers left upon record any miracles done by 
Holy Water? 

A, Yes they have; more particularly upon those 
occasions when it has been used against magical 
enchantments and the power of the devil. See 
instances in St. Epiphanius, IJser. 30. in St. Hie- 
rome, in the Life of St. Hilarion, in Theodoref^; 



14.K 



800 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN XNSTHTJCTE^. 

1. 6. Histor. Eccl. c. 21. in Palladium Histor. Laus. 
C. 6, &c. 

Q. What is tho order and manner of blessing 
Holy Water? 

A, First, the priest signs himself with the sign 
of the cross, saying, 'Our help is in the name of 
the Lord.' Ans, ' Who made heaven and earth.' 
Then hi proceeds to the blessing of the salt which 
is to be mingled with the water, saying. 

The Exorcism of the Salt, 

I exorcise thee, O creature of salt! by the liv- 
ing ijji God, by the true ^ God, by the holy ^ 
God; by that God, who by the prophet Elisha 
commanded thee to be cast into the water to cure 
its barrenness, that thou mayest by this exorcism 
be made beneficial to the faithful, and become to 
^11 them that make use of thee healthful both to 
goul and body, and that in what place soever thou 
wilt be sprinkled, all illusions and wickedness and 
crafty wiles of satan may be chased away and 
depart from that place; and every unclean spirit 
commanded in his name, who is to come to judge 
the living and the dead, and the world by fire. 
Amen. 

Let us pray. 

O Almighty and everlasting God! we most hum- 
bly implore thy infinite mercy that thou wouldst 
vouchsafe by thy piety to bless >J and to sanctify 
^ this thy creature of salt, which thou hast given 
for the use of mankind : that it may be to all thai 
take it for the health of mind and body; and that 
■ivhatever shall be touched or sprinkled with it 
may be free from all uncleanness, and from all 



n 



CT5-1948 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 301 

assaults of wielded spirits, through our Lord Jesofl 
Christ, &c. 

After tilts ilie Priest proceeds to the blessing of 
the water J as follows. 

I exorcise thee, O creature of water! in the 
name of God ^ the Father Almighty, and in the 
name of Christ ^ his Son our Lord, and in the 
virtue of the Holy )^ Ghost; that thou mayest by 
this exorcism have power to chase away all the 
power of the enemy; that thou mayest be en- 
abled to cast him out, and put him to flight with 
all his apostate angels, by the virtue of the same 
Jesus Christ our Lord, who is to come to judge 
the living and the dead, and the world by fire. 
Amen. 

Let us pray. 

O God! who for the benefit of mankind hast 
made use of the element of water in the greatest 
sacraments, mercifully hear our prayers, and im- 
part the virtue of thy blessing ^ to this element, 
prepared by many kinds of purifications; that this 
thy creature made use of in thy mysteries may 
receive the effect of thy divine grace for the chas- 
ing away devils and curing diseases; and that 
whosoever shall be sprinkled with this water in 
the houses or the places of the faithful, may be 
free from all uncleanness, and delivered from evil: 
let no pestilential spirit reside there, no infectious 
air; let all the snares of the hidden enemy fly 
away; and may whatever envies the safety or 
repose of the inhabitants of that place be put to 
flight by the sprinkling of this water, that the wel- 
fare which we seek by the invocation of thjr holy 
i 26 



302 CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 

Na«ie may be defended from all sorts of assaults. 
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &;c. 

Then the Priest mingles the salt with the watery 
saying. 

May this salt and water be mixed together, in 
the name of the Father ^, and of the Son >J, and 
of the Holy ^ Ghost. Amen. 

V. The Lord be with you. 

R, And with thy spirit. 

Let us pray. 

O God the author of invincible power, King 
of an empire that cannot be overcome, and for 
ever magnificently triumphant,- who retrainest the 
forces of the adversary, who defeatest the fury of 
the roaring enemy, who mightily conquerest his 
malicious wiles; we pray and beseech thee, O 
Lord! with dread and humility, to regard with a 
favourable countenance this creature of salt and 
water, to enlighten it with thy bounty, and to 
sanctify it with the dew of thy fatherly goodness, 
that wheresoever it shall be sprinkled all annoy- 
ance of the unclean spirit may be chased away, 
through the invocation of thy holy Name; and 
that the presence of the Holy Ghost may be every 
where with us, who seek thy mercy. Through 
our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the 
same Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, 
for ever and ever. Amen, 

The Blessing being ended, the Priest sprinkles 
himself and the people with the water, saying. 

Anthem, Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord ! with 



CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTED. 303 

hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; thou shalt wash 
me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. 

Psalm, Have mercy on me, O God! according 
to thy great mercy, &;c. 
Glory be to the Father, dec. 

After wJiich he repeats the Anthem. ' Thou shalt 
sprinkle,' 6z;c. Then returning to the altar, he says* 

V. O Lord! show us thy mercy. 
i?. And give us thy salvation. 
V. O Lord! hear my prayer. 
R. And let my cry come to thee. 
F. The Lord be with you. 
E. And with thy spirit. 

Let us pray. 

Hear us, O! holy Lord, Almighty Father, ever- 
lasting God! and vouchsafe to send thy holy angel 
from heaven to guard, cherish, protect, visit, and 
defend all that dwell in this habitation. Through 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 



THE END. 



CONTENTS 



Paqe 

THE PREFACE . . ,. 3 

CHAPTER I. Of the Sign of the Cross ... 27 
CHAPTER II. Of the Sacrament of Baptism . . 30 
CHAPTER III. Of the ceremonies of Baptism, and 
of the manner of administering this sacrament in 

the Catholic Church 38 

CHAPTER IV. Of the Sacrament of Confirmation, 

and of the manner of administering it . . .47 
CHAPTER V. Of the Sacrament of the Eucharist . 54 
SECTION I. The first proof of the Real Presence 
from the words of Christ at the first institution of 

this blessed Sacrament 56 

SECTION II. The second proof of the Real Presence 

from St. John vi. 51, &,c. 65 

SECTION III. Other proofs of the Real Presence of 

Christ's Body and Blood in the blessed Sacrament . 72 
SECTION IV. Transubstantiation proved; Objections 

answered SO 

SECTION V. Of the Bread and Wine made use of 

in this Sacrament . 88 

SECTION VI. Of Communion in one kind . . . 91 
SECTION VII. Of the manner of administering this 
blessed Sacrament; of devotion before and after \ 
Communion; of the obligation of receiving it, and 
of its effects . 96 . 



306 CONTENTS. 

SECTION VIII. Of the worship of Christ in this 
Sacrament: where also of Benedictions and Pro- 
cessions lOd 

CHAPTER VI. Of the Sacrifice of the Mass . . lOS 

CHAPTER VII. Of hearing Mass: where also of the 
Order and Ceremonies of the Mass, and the devo- 
tion proper for that time 116 

CHAPTER VIIL Of the saying Mass in Latin . . 138 

CHAPTER IX. Of the Sacrament of Penance : of 
Confession, a»d the Preparation for it: of Abso- 
lution, &c * . .'i-U 

CHAPTER X. Of Indulgences and Jubilees . .168 

CHAPTER XI. Of the Sacrament of Extreme Unc- 
tion 164 

CHAPTER XII. The order of the recommendation 
of a Soul that is Just departing 168 

CHAPTER XIII. Of th^ Office for the Burial of the 
Dead . . 174 

CHAPTER XIV. Of; Prayers for the Dead, and of 
Purgatory ... * 179 

CHAPTER XV. Of the Sacrament of Holy Order . 188 

CHAPTER XVI. Of the Superiority of Bishops, and 
of the Supremacy of the Fope * .... 191 

CHAPTER XVII. Of the Celibacy of the Clergy . . 202 

CHAPTER XVIII. Of Religions Orders and Confra- 
ternities 211 

CHAPTER XIX. Of the SacrsHnent of Matrimony, 
and of the Nuptial Benediction ... . . 223 
< CHAPTER XX. Of the Churching of w<)men after 

child-bearing 233 

•CHAPTER XXI. Of the Fasts of theCatholic Church . 236 

SECTION I. Of Fasting and Abstinei*ce in general . ib. 

SECTION II. Of the Fast of Lent . « . .241 
^ SECTION III. Of other days of Fasting and Absti- 
nence in the Catholic Churcii . « « • . 246 



coiCTBirrs. 507 

CHAPTER XXII. Of the Church-Office, or the Ca- 
nonical Hours of Prayer in the Catholic Church . 248 

CHAPTER XXIII. Of the Festivals of the Catholic 
Church: where also of the Holj Week, and the 
Ceremonies thereof ..<.... 252 

CHAPTER XXIV. Of the Invocation of Angels and 
Saints 263 

CHAPTER XXV. Of the devotion of Catholics to the 
blessed Virgin Mary; of her perpetual Virginity; 
of the Beads, Rosary, and Angelus Domini . . 274 

CHAPTER XXVI. Of the use and veneration of Rel- 
ics in the Catholic Church ..... 282 

CHAPTER XXVII. Of the use of Pictures and Im- 
ages in the Catholic Church 287^ 

CHAPTER XXVIII. Of Exorcisms and Benedictions 
or Blessings of creatures in the Catholic Church, 
aiMi of the use of Holy Water . . . . 2Sd 



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